Phil Knight Biography: The Nike Billionaire

In 1962, a Stanford University student wrote a paper on the possibility of having a Japanese shoe compete against the German brands that were selling really well at the time. Having a passion for running, he travelled to Japan to determine if it was at all possible. In the city of Kobe, he met with the owner of Onitsuka which was a shoe company. He made up a company name, pitched the owner right then, and struck a deal to distribute their shoes in the United States. This laid the foundation of what was to become NIKE which, today, is the largest shoe company in the world. This is the story of Phil Knight.

A fiercely competitive individual, he took Adidas and Puma head-on. He traveled extensively to track meets and initially sold shoes from the trunk of his car. Deciding to scale the business, he approached his former athletic coach, Bill Bowerman, and the two hit it off really well. Bowerman was the genius behind the design and Knight was the business mind.

Their big break came with the design of Nike Cortez. With their contract ending with Onitsuka just before the 1972 Olympics, they caught their big break and the company instantly found itself in the big leagues. How did Phil Knight turn a bootstrap operation into a global athletic juggernaut in such a short period of time? This is your opportunity to find out.

Here's a preview of what you'll discover in this book:

• Phil Knight's early childhood, family life, and education
• The passionate runner and writing the paper that changed everything
• His travels to Japan and securing his shoe distributorship
• Selling shoes one pair at a time
• Meeting Bowerman and creating a company with $1000
• Innovative designs and genius marketing led to breakthroughs
• Capturing the hearts and minds of the fitness enthusiasts
• Nike going global and dominating the sports shoe market
• What's ahead for the company

.. And much more!

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