Phil Knight: A Very Brief History Of Nike

The History of Nike

There are many sports brands and companies in our world. Adidas, Puma, Champion, and Nike are some well-known ones. Nike had a unique start to its company though. Many people just take our clothing for granted and assume that the clothing lines started with some rich guy who wanted to earn some more money. This may be true in some cases, but Nike didn’t start that way. I am writing about this topic because I am an athlete and am interested in our history. Sports history. I feel that people have had great ideas but feared to express it to the world, because they were afraid. Afraid that people would laugh, that they would be shunned, afraid that people would take their idea. The creator of Nike was afraid, put he

In the first section, I have a summary of the first few years of how Nike was founded. The next section is about the famous Nike logo. The final section I have is about the famous athletes signed to Nike through contracts. I include a works cited page at the end of the paper also.

The Start

The founder of Nike was Phil Knight. Bill Bowerman, a former coach to Phil Knight, joined him later in the year as a co-owner. Phil Knight was a college runner in Oregon. In one of Knight’s college classes, they had to write about a new business idea. Knight had taken note of how Japanese cameras had infiltrated the American shops and drove the German cameras out. Knight believed the same thing could happen with the shoe industry. He was very passionate in his idea and spent weeks memorizing numbers and equations. He received an A on his paper, and that was that. But Phil Knight never forgot about his idea. After Phil graduated college, he didn’t know what to do with his life. So he went back to his parent’s house with his younger siblings. Within a few months, Knight asked his father, William Knight, for money to travel the world. He also wanted to make a stop in Japan, where Onitsuka Tiger, a popular shoe brand was headquartered.

The two friends got jobs as encyclopedia salesmen. Eventually, Phil remembered what his real mission was on this trip. So he left Hawaii, alone. Carter had met a girl and stayed in Hawaii with her. Phil Knight had gone to Japan and met up with some American builders that were stationed in Japan to rebuild after World War II. The American builders laughed when he told them his amazing idea, so Phil went to tour the city. He soon heard more American voices and met two Americans who went to Japan on vacation, but stayed there because they loved the culture. They started their own magazine line and kept it afloat somehow. Then Phil explained to them his own idea, and they were doubtful. They still helped him though, the two guys explained to him on how to do business with the Japanese. It was the complete opposite of what Knight was going to do with Onitsuka Tiger executives. Knight scheduled a meeting with the executives the next day and arrived a half hour late! Even though Phil arrived late, the executives were unfazed and still met with him. When Phil started presenting, immediately, one of the executives asked him who he was representing. So, Phil thought back to the blue ribbons, and trophies, and medals he won in