Phil Knight & family

Phil Knight, founder of shoe giant Nike, retired as chairman in June 2016 after 52 years at the company. Knight ran track at the University of Oregon and created Nike shoes with his former track coach, Bill Bowerman. In 1964, they each put up $500 to start what would become Nike, then called Blue Ribbon Sports. Today Nike’s revenues are nearly $45 billion. Knight has pledged over $500 million in donations to both the University of Oregon and Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, his alma maters.