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Blue Ribbon Sports
On January 25th, 1964, Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman formed the company "Blue Ribbon Sports." At the time, BSR was nothing more than a shoe distributor of Onitsuka Tiger, a Japanese shoe brand. Knight and Bowerman agree on a deal, with 51% of the company going towards Knight, and the remaining 49% to Bowerman. In the early days, the extent of BSR was simply selling these Tiger shoes out of the trunk of Knights automobile in the western United States. -
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Nike - Origins to Present Day
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First Retail Location and Reaching Both Coasts
By 1966, BSR opened its first retail location in California. Shortly after opening this location, Phil Knight realized that for BSR to reach its full potential, it needed to have an outreach beyond the West Coast. As a result, Knight sends Jeff Johnson, a friend and employee of his, to Wellesley, Massachusetts to open BSR's east coast distribution Center -
Nike: As We Know It
After rapid growth and aggravation with Onitsuka Tiger over ownership shares of BSR, Knight severs ties with Onitsuka Tiger and rebrands to Nike in May of 1971, debuting the now iconic Swoosh logo. Nike started to create their own shoes with their own logo. -
Nike Goes Public
After years of building up name recognition and establishing itself as a large athletics brand, Nike finally decided to go public in 1980. Shortly after going public, Nike's financial struggles as a result of the legal battle with U.S Customs became a thing of the past, as Knight built up a net worth north of $178 million USD. -
Air Jordan
In 1984/1985, Nike broke down barriers when it signed rising NBA star Michael Jordan to his own exclusive shoe deal and own shoe line. Instead of having Michael wear generic Nikes, they create his own Air Jordan line, the first of its kind. In its first year, over 4 million pairs were sold of Air Jordans, and that number grew exponentially as Jordan blossomed into an international star. Nike's first branding method was a massive success. -
Phil Knight "steps down".
In December of 2004, Phil Knight "steps down" from CEO of Nike, but remains chairman of the company. William Perez steps in as the new CEO, but nothing changes in regards to Phil Knights ownership or influence in the company -
Phil Knight officially steps down.
In June of 2016, Phil Knight steps down from his role as Chairman. He now is officially retired and has no duties at the company. He is still the majority share holder. -
Conclusion + References
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