Phil Knight Net Worth

Phil Knight is the chairman and co-founder of Nike Inc, with a net worth of $14.1 billion. Phil Knight has earned his net worth as a true entrepreneur. He got his start while in Kobe, Japan through a business arrangement with Mr. Onitsuka and began selling Tiger Running Shoes by Kobe in the Western U.S. and after sending a couple of pairs to Bill Bowerman, they decided to go into business together. That was the birth of Blue Ribbon Sports. In the beginning Phil Knight was selling running shoes out of his car, which was so successful that he ended up working full time for Blue Ribbon Sports, which is now known as Nike. By 2004, he resigned as the CEO of Nike, while holding on to his position as Chairman of the board.

Phil Knight Net Worth

He was born in Portland, Oregon in 1938, and was a student at Cleveland High School and attended the University of Oregon, earning himself a journalism degree. As a middle-distance runner, he earned letters for the years, 1957, '58 and '59. He served in the Army for one year in active and seven more in the Reserves. When he finished with his active duty in the military, Phil Knight decided to go to the Stanford Graduate School of Business and discovered his calling as an entrepreneur. After finishing Stanford with a Masters in Business Administration, he traveled around the and that's where he came across his first business negotiation, with Tiger Running Shoes, and so began his climb to financial freedom.

In 1963, Phil Knight married Penelope Parks and they have three grown children, Matthew, Travis, and Christina. Phil and his wife Penelope now live alone in Beaverton, Oregon, since their children are grown. Knight purchased Will Vinton Studios, and changed the name to LAIKA, and released their first animated film, "Coraline." His son Travis became the CEO of LAIKA. Phil had a role, as himself, in the Michael Moore's film, The Big One. He has also been mentioned as a Corporate Crook, in Moore's book, "Downsize This." Phil Knight was accused of operating sweatshops in Indonesia under some very deplorable conditions. He then explained to Michael Moore that those factories are not owned by nike. He then decided to invest in factories in the U.S. to manufacture nike products. He also promised there would be mandatory standards for all factories Nike has manufacturing their products. Phil Knight was the only CEO of Nike that was willing to meet with Michael Moore.

Phil and his wife Penny, have been long time contributors and supporters for the University of Oregon athletic fund and have been honored by having an athletic gym named after him. They also named the library after his mother, his father's name appears on the law school and have honored his son, (whom they lost because of a diving accident, in El Salvadore) with the Matthew Knight Arena. Because of all the contributions Phil Knight has given to sports, he was inducted in the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.

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Brian Warner

Prior to launching Celebrity Net Worth, Brian spent seven years as the Managing Editor of one of the largest entertainment portals on the internet. Before that, Brian attended Georgetown University where he double majored in finance and marketing. A native of Northern California, Brian currently resides in Los Angeles. Follow him on Google+.