Nike Research Paper

Nike, a very popular company, is a very creative and a wealth company. Nike is an amazing company. Starting out as a little company with little money and becoming one of the leading brands in the world. Making millions of dollars and coming out with new apparel and shoes every single day. Making many people happy. Too many people are in love with this company.
“ I am just happy to be a part of the Nike family.”(Lebron James, 2016- BrainyQuote," n.d.). As you can see many people love this brand, even those who are celebrities. The history of this company is very interesting.

This great empire or company was founded in 1964. It was first known as Blue Ribbon Sports and wasn't even a shoe company. It was a distributor for Onitsuka Tiger. Or also know as now days as the shoe company Asics. In the 60s, while getting his MBA, he started a project in school to make a business. Every since that it shot off and actually became a company.("Nike History and Timeline," n.d.) They were not to wealth to start out as a company. Actually they only started with $1,200 in their pocket. It was created by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight. Bill Bowerman was a track and field coach, and Phil Knight was a student that ran track at the University of Oregon. ("History Of Nike: Facts About Its 50th Anniversary - Business Insider," n.d.)
In 1971, Caroline Davidson, made the historical Nike swoosh.
She was asked by Phil Knight in one of his accounting classes at Portland State University. For only $35.00 she made the swoosh to be put on the shoe. ("Nike History and Timeline," n.d.) It is supposed to symbolize the winged goddess who is also called Nike. This was also the year that they became Nike Inc. They started this all from the trunk of Phil Knight’s car. As well as the Swoosh the saying “Just Do It” came with it. These two things started to symbolize later to be the biggest shoe company out there. ("Nike History and Timeline,"
n.d.)

On there way to greatness they bought out many companies and signed many professional athletes. There very first professional they signed was a very amazing basketball player. Michael Jordan was getting shoes made for him to wear. After this there business skyrocketed. 11 years they decided to sign another professional athlete. Tiger Woods, one of the greatest golfers, was given $5 million a year. On there way to the top, they sold of Umbro. They also bought out Hurley and Converse. They still have these to this day.("Nike Story - Profile, History, Founder, Founded, CEO | Footwear Manufacturing Companies | SuccessStory," n.d.)

It is pretty good to have a shoe company that is in the top 100 on the fortune 500 list. Nike is 91. Their first year, 21 years ago they were 301.(Fortune, 2016) In 2015 they made 30.6 billion dollars in revenue in 2015. Which was only 6.4 billion in 1996. They sell 120,000,000 shoes in 700 stores annually each year. With 44,000 employees in 45 different countries. ("Nike Company Statistics – Statistic Brain," n.d.) 59.7%($18.3 billion) of the revenue comes from the footwear department and 28.1%($8.6 Billion) in the apparel department. ("How Nike Makes Money? Understanding Nike Business Model Core Elements - Revenues & Profits," n.d.)

So you can definitely tell that Nike is successful company. To starting with $1,2000 to making billions of dollars a year. This is no way to argue that this shoe company is one of the tops of this day and age. From starting in a trunk of a car to going worldwide to 45 different countries. Also the history of this company is very interesting and cool. From starting from a project it an amazing company. It really is going from the bottom to the top. This is why so many people love this company.