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ONE OF KIND
“Hard work is critical, a good team is
essential, brains and determination are
invaluable, but luck may decide the
outcome.” - Phil Knight
T hough many of the ultra-rich bypass formal education, the logo, was, “It’ll have to do.” The decision to call the company Nike,
not all do. One-of-a-kind Phil Knight, co-founder the name of the Greek Goddess of victory, was not Knight’s top choice
of Nike, got there one athletic footstep at a time. The either. His original comment about the name Nike was apparently,
University of Oregon graduate did not have a clear “Maybe it will grow on us.”
picture of his future prior to enrolling in the MBA program at Stanford Grow on us, it did. The orange-boxed shoe with the swoop, has
University. The combination of his track-running history, his travels, integrated itself in every psyche around the world. The Nike slogan
and his acuity, sparked an idea that led to the shoe brand that is now “Just do it,” is an international mantra oft-repeated in sports, art, music
known universally. It was a business plan that had some detractors and literature.
along the way but what must be now described as the genius of In 2016, Phil Knight, founder and largest shareholder of Nike, retired.
business. True to its name, Nike did achieve victory. Forbes rated Nike as one
of the most valuable sporting brands in the world, and at the time of
As Knight describes in his memoir, Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator writing, Knight himself had a net worth of over 30 billion U.S. One of
of Nike, Nike was not an overnight success. It took more than a few the most philanthropic people in the world, he has donated about $2
leaps of fate to get from the fifty-dollar investment Knight’s father billion U.S. to charitable organizations to date, including those of his
loaned him in 1964 to co-found, with his former track coach Bill alma maters.
Bowerman, Blue Ribbon Sports; the company that became Nike.
Knight has stated many times that it was luck and a team effort that
created Nike’s success. Nike would probably not be what it is today if
it had been solely up to Knight. His comment, reportedly on seeing
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