Phil Knight

Philip Hampson Knight (born February 24, 1938), is an American billionaire businessman. He is the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike, Inc., and was previously chairman and CEO of the company. As of July 23, 2020, Knight was ranked by Forbes as the 26th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$39.2 billion. He is also the owner of the stop motion film production company Laika.

Knight has donated hundreds of millions of dollars, to each of his alma maters, as well as Oregon Health & Science University. He has donated over $2 billion to the three institutions.

Phil Hampson Knight was born in Portland, Oregon, to Bill Knight, a lawyer turned newspaper publisher, and his wife, Lota Cloy (Hatfield) Knight. Knight grew up in the Portland neighborhood of Eastmoreland, and attended Cleveland High School. According to one source, "When his father refused to give him a summer job at his newspaper [the now defunct Oregon Journal], believing that his son should find work on his own," Knight "went to the rival Oregonian, where he worked the morning shift tabulating sports scores and every morning ran home the full seven miles."

Knight continued his education at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where he ran for the famed Oregon track and field program, was a sports reporter for the Oregon Daily Emerald and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Knight earned a business degree (B.B.A.) in 1959 in just three years. That same year, Knight also received his Army Reserve Commission and was a "Distinguished Military Graduate".

As a middle-distance runner at Oregon, his personal best was 1 mile (1.6 km) in 4 minutes, 13 seconds, and he won varsity letters for his track performances in 1957, 1958, and 1959. In 1977, together with Bowerman and Geoff Hollister, Knight founded an American running team called Athletics West.