On January 25, 1964, Phil Knight and William Bowerman founded Blue Ribbon Sports, a running shoe business that would be rebranded in 1971 as Nike. The company, of course, is now a juggernaut, with $51 billion in revenue in its last fiscal year, a market cap of $154 billion and a globally dominant position in the footwear market.
Beginning with John McEnroe in 1978, athletes like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods have made the brand synonymous with success on and off the field. Knight has seen his net worth rise to an estimated $40 billion and landed at No. 18 on 2023’s Forbes 400 ranking of the wealthiest Americans.
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettknight/2024/01/24/how-phil-knight-fast-tracked-nike-60th-anniversary/?sh=631028cb3061
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Beginning with John McEnroe in 1978, athletes like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods have made the brand synonymous with success on and off the field. Knight has seen his net worth rise to an estimated $40 billion and landed at No. 18 on 2023’s Forbes 400 ranking of the wealthiest Americans.
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettknight/2024/01/24/how-phil-knight-fast-tracked-nike-60th-anniversary/?sh=631028cb3061
Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Here's your Forbes daily briefing for Thursday, January 25th.
00:05 Today on Forbes, how Phil Knight fast-tracked Nike.
00:10 Today, Nike, the shoe and apparel brand, celebrates its 60th anniversary.
00:16 On January 25th, 1964, Phil Knight and William Bowerman founded Blue Ribbon Sports, a running
00:23 shoe business that would be rebranded in 1971 as Nike.
00:29 The company, of course, is now a juggernaut, with $51 billion in revenue in its last fiscal
00:35 year, a market cap of $154 billion, and a globally dominant position in the footwear
00:41 market.
00:42 Beginning with John McEnroe in 1978, athletes like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods have made
00:48 the brand synonymous with success on and off the field.
00:52 Knight has seen his net worth rise to an estimated $40 billion and landed at No. 18 on 2023's
00:59 Forbes 400 ranking of the wealthiest Americans.
01:03 Inevitable as it may seem now, though, Nike's ascent was by no means preordained.
01:08 The company began with modest aspirations as a distributor of Japanese-made Onitsuka
01:13 Tiger shoes in the United States, but marketing master strokes in the 1970s and early '80s
01:20 helped Nike eclipse more established sneaker brands like Converse, a company it eventually
01:25 acquired in 2003.
01:28 Knight and Nike first appeared in the pages of Forbes in the midst of that surge, on November
01:33 23, 1981.
01:34 Today, on Nike's 60th anniversary, we present a short excerpt of that first Forbes article
01:40 on Nike, written by Forbes reporter John Merwin.
01:44 Again, this is from 1981.
01:48 Sunday, October 25.
01:50 This will be one fine day for Philip H. Knight, the 43-year-old co-founder and chairman of
01:55 Nike Inc., the athletic shoe company.
01:58 Knight positions himself in front of the tube.
02:00 Morning, turn on ABC.
02:02 Alberto Salazar breaks the world marathon record in New York.
02:06 Early afternoon, switch to NBC.
02:08 Dallas Cowboys defensive line rolls back Miami in a 28-27 come-from-behind cliffhanger.
02:14 Later, back to ABC for the World Series.
02:18 Dodgers stun Yankees 2-1 with a late-inning home run by catcher Steve Yeager.
02:24 Not that Knight, a former University of Oregon track star, gets a racing pulse from watching
02:29 Salazar, the Dallas Cowboys front four, or the Dodgers.
02:33 His heart leaps for television exposure of Nike shoes, worn conspicuously by Salazar,
02:39 the entire Dallas defensive line, and a half-dozen Dodgers, including hero Yeager.
02:45 Knight's publicity strategy has paid off in spades.
02:48 Perhaps 100 million viewers have seen parts of these three TV sports events.
02:53 Tens more will see pictures in the following day's newspaper or in magazines such as Sports
02:57 Illustrated.
02:58 All for 3% of Nike's sales, which the company dedicates to promotions, including signing
03:05 professional athletes to wear Nikes.
03:07 Knight, sporting a sleek pair of silver Nikes himself, gloats, "A full-page ad in Sports
03:14 Illustrated costs about $50,000, but how about the cover of Sports Illustrated?
03:18 You can't buy the cover."
03:19 Well, maybe you can't, but Nike can.
03:25 Knight explains, "The secret to business is to build the kind of shoe professional athletes
03:31 will wear, then put them on the pros.
03:33 The rest of the market will follow."
03:37 It's called trickle-down fashion.
03:39 Pro athletes are seen wearing Nike, which was named for the Greek goddess of victory.
03:44 Amateur athletes follow, wishing to emulate their heroes.
03:48 The base broadens to teenagers, children, and even otherwise unathletic suburbanites
03:52 who are susceptible to health-fashion chic.
03:55 Nike has scores of athletes on contract, including tennis star John McEnroe and baseball's Nolan
04:01 Ryan, at terms ranging from a few pairs of sneakers and modest amounts of cash up to
04:06 lofty sums.
04:07 Knight won't say how much, and a percentage of shoe sales.
04:11 It works.
04:12 Oh, how it works.
04:14 Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike sales and profit parabola look like Mount McKinley, while return
04:20 on equity has ranged from 45% to 85% a year.
04:24 Five years ago, revenues were $29 million.
04:27 In fiscal 1981, ended May 31st, they were $458 million, and analysts are pegging this
04:34 year at $650 million.
04:37 First share net in the same periods was $0.09, $1.52, and this year an estimated $2.20.
04:45 Sales jumped 72% in fiscal 1982's first quarter, while profits nearly doubled to $0.80 a share.
04:54 For full coverage and to see the 1981 Forbes profile of Nike's billionaire co-founder,
04:59 which is republished today in full, check out Brett Knight's piece on Forbes.com.
05:06 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.
05:08 Thanks for tuning in.
05:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]