Phil Knight: The Story Behind the Fortune
Phil Knight co-founded Nike with his former track coach Bill Bowerman, starting by importing and selling running shoes out of his car. He built it into the world's largest athletic-footwear and apparel company and is now chairman emeritus.
Phil Knight co-founded Nike with his former track coach Bill Bowerman, starting by importing and selling running shoes out of his car. He built it into the world's largest athletic-footwear and apparel company and is now chairman emeritus.
Phil Knight built this fortune from the ground up — a self-made success in fashion & retail.
He studied at Stanford Graduate School of Business and is based in Oregon.
A few of the highlights on the public record: Co-founded Nike with his track coach, Bill Bowerman; Started out selling shoes from the trunk of his car; A major donor to the University of Oregon and Stanford.
The journey to get here is well documented. In 1964, started the company with his track coach Bill Bowerman, selling imported running shoes out of the trunk of his car. In 1971, rebranded the company Nike, adopting the now-famous Swoosh logo. In 1980, took Nike public. In 2016, retired as Nike's chairman, becoming chairman emeritus.
On net worth alone, the closest companies are Tadashi Yanai ($76.61B) and Elon Musk ($417.59B) — a reminder of how tightly bunched the very top of the wealth list really is.
Today, Phil is worth an estimated $15.65B — #36 in the world on our real-time list, a figure that moves with NKE's share price.