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Phil Knight Bio, Founder of Nike

Runner Phil Knight, born February 24, 1938 in Portland, Oregon, co-founded Nike, Inc., with his former college track coach Bill Bowerman. A letter winner in the 1950s who went on to earn his MBA from Stanford's business school in 1962, Knight returned to the University of Oregon to propose to Bowerman that they go into business selling shoes -- Bowerman would be in charge of design, with Knight taking care of the business end.

At first, Bowerman just selected the models of sneakers that they imported from Japan and sold out of Knight's car at track meets. In time, they opened their own stores and manufactured their own shoes from Bowerman's slim, low-drag, efficient designs based on his years of winning experience as a track coach. Originally named Blue Ribbon Sports, the company changed its name to Nike after their shoe by that name -- named after the Greek goddess of victory -- overtook the rest of their products in sales. Early growth through the 1960s and 70s came from word of mouth and print ads, and they purchased a television ad to run during the 1982 New York Marathon. Throughout the 80s, the company expanded into a global icon, with its distinctive "swoosh" design as recognizable as any other corporate logo.

Knight served as president of the company until 2004 before stepping down, and still serves as chairman of the board.

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