Phil Knight

Knight grew up in a middle-class household in Portland, Oregon, where he attended high school. Following high school, Knight attended the University of Oregon before attending Stanford for his MBA. After graduating from Stanford, Knight went on a trip around the world and visited many countries, including Japan. While in Japan, Knight pitched himself as an American distributor for Onitsuka, a notable shoe company. Onitsuka accepted his deal, which led to Knight starting his first company: Blue Ribbon. Over the next two decades, Blue Ribbon became a notable shoe company in the United States. However, in the early 1970s, Blue Ribbon and Onitsuka had a falling out. After a legal battle, the two companies went their separate ways, and Knight turned Blue Ribbon into Nike. Knight then spent the rest of the 1970s turning Nike into one of America’s most notable athletic brands. Then, in 1980, Knight turned Nike into a publicly traded company, netting Knight $178 million. Since then, Nike has only grown, and Knight’s income has increased with it. Knight is one of America’s top 20 wealthiest men, and Nike is now a world-wide brand. In 2016, Knight released his memoir, Shoe Dog. Shoe Dog is the story of Nike, from its origins as Blue Ribbon to the company it is today.