Shoe Dog

In this book, for the first time ever, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight shares the inside story of the sneaker company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands. A young man searching for his identity after college, Knight borrowed fifty dollars from his father and launched a company with one simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost running shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the trunk of his car, Knight grossed eight thousand dollars that first year. Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion—and that’s only part of Knight’s success. His leadership has helped give birth to an industry and given rise to some of its greatest athletes. Fluent in Japanese and a voracious reader on business topics, he is among America's most revered CEOs even though he never set out to work in corporate America. In this book, Knight lays bare his successes, his failures, and his personal journey with such honesty, humor, and passion that you feel you are right alongside him for every step of the way.