Do you know everything about Nike?
This booklet tells the most interesting facts about the birth, formation and prosperity of Nike from its beginnings to the present day.
Nike just recently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary and it seems that there are no things we don't know about. However, let's try to look behind the scenes of Nike's history, a history full of success and unprecedented leadership in the sporting equipment industry, and learn some amazing facts that most of us have no idea about.
From 1964 Nike worked under the name Blue Ribbon Sports, then its main activity was the distribution of shoes of the Japanese manufacturer Onitsuki Tiger (today - Asics). The name we know as Nike Inc. appeared in 1971, when the company began the laborious work of building its image and strengthening its market position.
If Phil Knight had insisted on his idea, the brand name would have sounded like "Dimension 6". However, that idea was discarded by the company's first hire, Jeff Johnson, who suggested the name Nike (originally sounding like Nika), after the Greek goddess of victory.
The start-up capital is $1,200. That's how much money Bill Bowerman, a track and field coach, and Phil Knight, a Portland University of Oregon middle-distance runner - the founders of Nike Inc.
Even though Michael Jordan last played on a basketball court back in 2003, Nike continues to pay him about $60 million in revenue each year (according to Forbes). That makes Jordan's story the most lucrative advertising contract between an athlete and a shoe company ever.
