Nike Co-Founder Officially Retires as Chairman -- Update
June 30 2016 - 5:52PM
Dow Jones News
By Tess Stynes
Nike Inc. said co-founder Phil Knight officially has retired as
the athletic-gear giant's chairman, turning over the position to
Chief Executive Mark Parker and bringing to a close an executive
transition begun a year ago.
Mr. Knight also disclosed that he has sold his voting interests
in Swoosh LLC, which was created to hold most of his Class A
shares, to a trust controlled by his son and board member, Travis
Knight. The move gives Travis Knight control of two of five votes
on the Swoosh board. The other three votes are held by Mr. Parker
and Nike board members Alan B. Graf Jr. and John J. Donahoe II.
In prepared remarks, Mr. Knight said, "I intend to continue to
work to promote the company's business in my new role for as long
as I can contribute to Nike's success and long-term growth."
Mr. Knight, who this spring said he would formally step down as
chairman in June, was appointed as chairman emeritus with a
standing invitation to attend Nike board meetings as an
observer.
The Beaverton, Ore., company also said that Apple Inc. CEO Tim
Cook, who has been on Nike's board since 2005, was appointed as
lead independent director of Nike's board.
The moves come two days after Nike reported that its long streak
of strong growth on its home turf stalled in its latest
quarter.
The sportswear and sneaker giant's profit fell 2% and sales were
flat in North America, as the company continued to clear excess
inventory and battled increased competition from Under Armour Inc.
and Adidas AG. Overall revenue rose 6% in the quarter ended May 31,
driven by improved sales abroad, but came up shy of analysts'
expectations.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 30, 2016 17:37 ET (21:37 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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