Nike Says Mark Parker to Step Aside as CEO -- 2nd Update
October 22 2019 - 5:54PM
Dow Jones News
By Khadeeja Safdar
Nike Inc. said longtime Chief Executive Mark Parker will step
aside as CEO of the sportswear giant and be replaced by one of the
company's current board members.
Mr. Parker, who took over as CEO in 2006, will step aside on
Jan. 13, 2020, and be replaced by John Donahoe, a former eBay Inc.
CEO who is a Nike director. Mr. Parker will become Nike's executive
chairman.
The executive shuffle comes at a time that Nike's sneaker and
apparel business has been logging strong sales, but the brand has
also faced a series of public relations crises, including the
recent ban of Nike's top running coach amid doping allegations and
concerns about the company's workplace culture.
Last year, Mr. Parker apologized for allowing a corporate
culture that excluded some staff and failed to take seriously
complaints about workplace issues. The apology followed weeks of
turmoil and the departures of several senior executives, including
Mr. Parker's top lieutenant.
The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported that Nike was
investigating allegations of inappropriate behavior after a group
of women at the company had circulated a survey that reached Mr.
Parker.
Earlier this month, the Journal reported that Nike-backed
running coach Alberto Salazar on numerous occasions briefed Mr.
Parker on his experiments using testosterone cream for track and
field athletes, according to emails revealed by the U.S.
Anti-Doping Agency.
Mr. Parker, in an email to Nike staff, described news accounts
as "highly misleading" and underscored his support for Mr. Salazar.
A spokesman for Nike said Mr. Salazar was concerned Nike runners
could be sabotaged by people rubbing the cream on them.
Mr. Parker's tenure has been a financial success: Sales have
more than doubled and Nike's share price has steadily climbed
giving the company a market value of roughly $150 billion. Nike
dwarfs its competitors, with almost twice as much revenue as main
rival Adidas AG.
The company has been posting strong sales in recent quarters
both in the U.S. and China, its two biggest markets. The growth has
been helped by Nike's shift to sell more of its products directly
to consumers and via its own shopping apps.
Nike shares, which are trading near all-time highs, were little
changed in after-hours trading after ending Tuesday's regular
session at $95.60.
Mr. Parker, a track athlete at Penn State, joined Nike after
college and landed in the company's R&D lab in Exeter, N.H., in
1979 as a designer. He went on to work with Nike co-founder Bill
Bowerman and remained heavily involved in sneaker design even as he
climbed the ranks at the company.
In 2006, Nike's longtime leader and co-founder Phil Knight
handed day-to-day management to Mr. Parker, after his previously
anointed successor, an outsider with little experience in footwear,
left after 13 months. In 2016, Mr. Knight retired and handed over
the chairman role to Mr. Parker.
Mr. Donahoe has a background in the tech world rather than
sportswear. He is currently the CEO of ServiceNow Inc., a cloud
computing company, and chairman of PayPal Holdings Inc. From 2008
until 2015, Mr. Donahoe was eBay's chief executive. He has been a
Nike director since 2014.
Nike's CEO switch came the same day that rival Under Armour Inc.
said founder Kevin Plank would step down as CEO in January. Mr.
Plank, too, will stay on as executive chairman. That means both
U.S. sportswear giants will have new leaders next year as they face
shifting consumer tastes and a difficult retail landscape.
Write to Khadeeja Safdar at khadeeja.safdar@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 22, 2019 17:39 ET (21:39 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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