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Nike which was (Blue Ribbon Sports till 1971) was founded by two men who were rather crazy about sports, Bill Bowerman (1911-1999) and Philip Knight (1938-present)
They both enjoyed sports, especially running and jogging, and thought athletes could obtain greater balance and speed with better shoes. Was originally called Blue Ribbon Sports -
Bowerman and Knight formed a partnership, and the company made $8,000 in first year of business. They didn't hire any employees till 1965. Until then it was just the two of them running the business,
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1200 is what Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman spent to start what was Blue Ribbon sports, which is now Nike.
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Jeff Johnson the first ever employee of Blue Ribbon Shoes was hired
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Carolyn Davidson was a student at Portland State when she met Phil Knight. Carolyn was first paid $35 for the logo, but was later given a stock that is now worth 643 thousand dollars.
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Jordan signs contract with Nike. Together they produce his first model of shoe called the "Air Jordan"
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First shoe nike ever put out with an air bag in it.
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Slogan coined by nike in 1988. Credited to Gary Gilmore because those are the last words he said before he died.
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Owner Bill Bowerman sadly dies one day before christmas at the age of 88. He's now leaving the only other original owner, Phil Knight to run the company.
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Nike starts expanding world head quarters in beaverton to expand their facility. They're adding new offices, parking garages, fitness facilty, and thousands of new employees. One of the buildings will be 9 stories tall and have 887,000 sq ft of space, another building they're designing will be 412,000 sq ft. Nike is expanding quite a bit on this project.
