00:00 Here's your Forbes daily briefing for Thursday, January 25th.
00:05 Today on Forbes, how Phil Knight fast-tracked Nike.
00:10 Today, Nike, the shoe and apparel brand, celebrates its 60th anniversary.
00:16 On January 25th, 1964, Phil Knight and William Bowerman founded Blue Ribbon Sports, a running
00:23 shoe business that would be rebranded in 1971 as Nike.
00:29 The company, of course, is now a juggernaut, with $51 billion in revenue in its last fiscal
00:35 year, a market cap of $154 billion, and a globally dominant position in the footwear
00:41 market.
00:42 Beginning with John McEnroe in 1978, athletes like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods have made
00:48 the brand synonymous with success on and off the field.
00:52 Knight has seen his net worth rise to an estimated $40 billion and landed at No. 18 on 2023's
00:59 Forbes 400 ranking of the wealthiest Americans.
01:03 Inevitable as it may seem now, though, Nike's ascent was by no means preordained.
01:08 The company began with modest aspirations as a distributor of Japanese-made Onitsuka
01:13 Tiger shoes in the United States, but marketing master strokes in the 1970s and early '80s
01:20 helped Nike eclipse more established sneaker brands like Converse, a company it eventually
01:25 acquired in 2003.
01:28 Knight and Nike first appeared in the pages of Forbes in the midst of that surge, on November
01:33 23, 1981.
01:34 Today, on Nike's 60th anniversary, we present a short excerpt of that first Forbes article
01:40 on Nike, written by Forbes reporter John Merwin.
01:44 Again, this is from 1981.
01:48 Sunday, October 25.
01:50 This will be one fine day for Philip H. Knight, the 43-year-old co-founder and chairman of
01:55 Nike Inc., the athletic shoe company.
01:58 Knight positions himself in front of the tube.
02:00 Morning, turn on ABC.
02:02 Alberto Salazar breaks the world marathon record in New York.
02:06 Early afternoon, switch to NBC.
02:08 Dallas Cowboys defensive line rolls back Miami in a 28-27 come-from-behind cliffhanger.
02:14 Later, back to ABC for the World Series.
02:18 Dodgers stun Yankees 2-1 with a late-inning home run by catcher Steve Yeager.
02:24 Not that Knight, a former University of Oregon track star, gets a racing pulse from watching
02:29 Salazar, the Dallas Cowboys front four, or the Dodgers.
02:33 His heart leaps for television exposure of Nike shoes, worn conspicuously by Salazar,
02:39 the entire Dallas defensive line, and a half-dozen Dodgers, including hero Yeager.
02:45 Knight's publicity strategy has paid off in spades.
02:48 Perhaps 100 million viewers have seen parts of these three TV sports events.
02:53 Tens more will see pictures in the following day's newspaper or in magazines such as Sports
02:57 Illustrated.
02:58 All for 3% of Nike's sales, which the company dedicates to promotions, including signing
03:05 professional athletes to wear Nikes.
03:07 Knight, sporting a sleek pair of silver Nikes himself, gloats, "A full-page ad in Sports
03:14 Illustrated costs about $50,000, but how about the cover of Sports Illustrated?
03:18 You can't buy the cover."
03:19 Well, maybe you can't, but Nike can.
03:25 Knight explains, "The secret to business is to build the kind of shoe professional athletes
03:31 will wear, then put them on the pros.
03:33 The rest of the market will follow."
03:37 It's called trickle-down fashion.
03:39 Pro athletes are seen wearing Nike, which was named for the Greek goddess of victory.
03:44 Amateur athletes follow, wishing to emulate their heroes.
03:48 The base broadens to teenagers, children, and even otherwise unathletic suburbanites
03:52 who are susceptible to health-fashion chic.
03:55 Nike has scores of athletes on contract, including tennis star John McEnroe and baseball's Nolan
04:01 Ryan, at terms ranging from a few pairs of sneakers and modest amounts of cash up to
04:06 lofty sums.
04:07 Knight won't say how much, and a percentage of shoe sales.
04:11 It works.
04:12 Oh, how it works.
04:14 Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike sales and profit parabola look like Mount McKinley, while return
04:20 on equity has ranged from 45% to 85% a year.
04:24 Five years ago, revenues were $29 million.
04:27 In fiscal 1981, ended May 31st, they were $458 million, and analysts are pegging this
04:34 year at $650 million.
04:37 First share net in the same periods was $0.09, $1.52, and this year an estimated $2.20.
04:45 Sales jumped 72% in fiscal 1982's first quarter, while profits nearly doubled to $0.80 a share.
04:54 For full coverage and to see the 1981 Forbes profile of Nike's billionaire co-founder,
04:59 which is republished today in full, check out Brett Knight's piece on Forbes.com.
05:06 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.
05:08 Thanks for tuning in.
05:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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