Billionaire Road
PK

Born 1938.

Phil Knight

Where the hours went: In the trunk of his car.

He sold running shoes out of his car while he kept his day job.
Sixteen years after the handshake, Nike went public.

Type card: the trunk of a green Plymouth Valiant, track meets, 1964
No photo. Billionaire Road shows living men by their work.

In thirty seconds

His hours

Seven years selling another company's shoes, with a day job to pay for it.

His rep

Pair after pair from the trunk of his car at track meets.

It reached

Nike, from a handshake to a public company in sixteen years.

Most men think the titans got there on talent.
They got there on where the hours went.

01The Oregon miler

At the University of Oregon he ran the mile for coach Bill Bowerman.[1][2]

02Fifty dollars to Japan

In 1962, after a business school paper on Japanese running shoes, he borrowed fifty dollars from his father and flew to Japan.
He pitched Onitsuka on letting him sell its Tiger shoes in America.[1][3]

03The trunk

On January 25, 1964, he and Bowerman shook hands on Blue Ribbon Sports, five hundred dollars each.
He sold the shoes from the trunk of his green Plymouth Valiant at track meets.
He kept working as an accountant to pay for it.[1][3][4]

04Thirty five dollars

In 1971 a student, Carolyn Davidson, drew the Swoosh for thirty five dollars.
The shoes got a new name, Nike.[1][4][5]

05On their own

In 1972 the deal with Onitsuka ended and Nike made its own shoes.[2][5]

06Sixteen years

On December 2, 1980, Nike went public at twenty two dollars a share.
That was sixteen years after the handshake.[4][5]

07Jordan and the book

In 1984 Nike signed Michael Jordan.
In 2016 he stepped down as chairman and published his memoir, Shoe Dog.[2][5]

The legend vs. the reps

The legendNike was an overnight success.

The repsSeven years selling another company's shoes before the Swoosh.
Sixteen years from the handshake to going public.[1][4]

The legend counts luck.
The record counts reps.
Sixteen years, starting from the trunk of a car.

His years

Every year the record allows, with its source.

1938Born

He was born in Portland, Oregon.[2][5]

1962At 24

He borrowed fifty dollars from his father and flew to Japan to pitch Onitsuka.[1][3]

1964At 25

He and Bowerman shook hands on Blue Ribbon Sports, five hundred dollars each.[1][4]

1964At twenty six

He sold shoes from the trunk of his Plymouth Valiant at track meets.[1][3]

1969At 31

Sales reached about a million dollars.[4][5]

1971At 33

A student drew the Swoosh for thirty five dollars, and the name Nike arrived.[4][5]

1972At 34

The Onitsuka deal ended and Nike made its own shoes.[2][5]

1980At 42

Nike went public at twenty two dollars a share.[4][5]

1984At 46

Nike signed Michael Jordan.[2][5]

2016At 78

He stepped down as chairman and published Shoe Dog.[2][5]

No photo. Billionaire Road shows living men by their work.

Where his hours went

At track meets, selling from his trunk.
At an accounting desk to pay for it.
On the next shoe, sixteen years before the company went public.

See where your hours go.

A week is 168 hours.
One minute to see where yours went.

Count your 168 →

See what he was doing at your age →

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Sources

  1. Nike, The Handshake That Started It All (about.nike.com): the trip to Japan, the handshake with Bowerman, the trunk of the Plymouth Valiant, the Swoosh.
  2. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Phil Knight: birth in Portland in 1938, running for Bowerman, the break with Onitsuka, Michael Jordan, stepping down in 2016.
  3. LitCharts, Shoe Dog, chapter 1964: the fifty dollar loan, the trip, selling from the car while working as an accountant.
  4. Yahoo News, Nike Inc. Company Timeline: 50 Years: the handshake on January 25, 1964, sales by 1969, the Swoosh for thirty five dollars, the public offering on December 2, 1980.
  5. Wikipedia, Phil Knight and Nike, Inc.