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Phil Knight Biography
Business Personality
Phil Knight is the founder and CEO of the athletic gear company Nike. Knight and Nike helped start a sports business revolution in the 1970s, changing old-fashioned tennis shoes into highly specialized equipment and promoting them as symbols of athletic prowess and success. Nike's success made Knight one of America's wealthiest men. In the 1990s he was the subject of frequent protests over allegedly poor working conditions at Nike manufacturing plants in Asia.
Extra credit: Prominent Nike athletes have included Michael Jordan, Mia Hamm and Steve Prefontaine... In October of 2002, Knight acquired the animation studios of clay animation pioneer Will Vinton... as a New Empire mogul, Knight is often compared to Microsoft head Bill Gates.
Four Good Links
Philip H. Knight
Bio from the company's official website
A Sweaty Love Letter from Phil Knight
Mother Jones magazine has a bone to pick with him
The Force Behind Nike
Profile of his success from Stanford University
Phil Knight
His profile as a notable Oregonian
Vital Stats
Birth
24 February 1938
(age 71)
Birthplace
Death
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Best Known As
Founder of the athletic shoe and clothing company Nike