Nike Co-founder Phil Knight officially retires as its Chairman
loading...
Knight to serve as Chairman Emeritus of Nike
After the transition plan was chalked out a year ago, when Knight had expressed his desire to remain involved with the company he co-founded with Bill Bowerman. So the board as announced him as Chairman Emeritus and he would be a part of all Nike board meetings as an observer and the guiding force.
"Phil's impact on Nike is immeasurable," said Parker in a statement, adding, "His entrepreneurial drive is and always will be part of our DNA. Along with Nike's exceptional management team, I am committed to leading our next era of innovation and growth as we serve and inspire athletes throughout the world."
The announcement was made after Nike’s fiscal fourth-quarter results were declared last Tuesday that disappointed investors. While sales increased 6 percent, profits remained flat impacting the company’s future orders. Brands such as Adidas, Under Armour catering to the same audience as Nike are supposedly creating a tough competition for the brand.
A year ago, Knight also formed a limited liability company called Swoosh, LLC to hold the majority of his Nike shares and transferred a 15 percent stake, then worth 13.9 billion dollars, into the company. He also formed a board of directors for the LLC, giving himself control of two of the five votes. While officially announcing his retirement last week, he said that he had sold his voting interests in Swoosh, to a trust controlled by his son, Travis Knight, who is on Nike’s board of directors. Travis Knight now holds his father’s two votes on Swoosh’s board; the other three votes are controlled by CEO Parker, eBay CEO John Donahoe II and FedEx CFO Alan Graf Jr.
Almost over half a decade ago, Knight founded Blue Ribbon Sport with his former track coach Bill Bowerman. Later both invested 500 dollars to start a shoe company, which was renamed Nike after the Greek goddess of victory in 1978.