Phil Knight: Is there a single family office?

Where does the fortune of Phil Knight come from?

Philip Knight is an American business magnate and philanthropist. A native of Oregon, he is the co-founder and former chairman of Nike and previously served as CEO of the company. As of 2024, Knight was ranked by Forbes as the 30th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of 40.9 billion U.S. dollars. Today Nike is one of the biggest sports goods producers worldwide. Phil Knight also owns the stop motion film production company Laika.

How did the Knight family business develop?

Nike, originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports, was founded on 25 January 1964 by University of Oregon track star Phil Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman. In their first year, they sold 1,300 pairs of Japanese running shoes out of the back of their car. 2 years later, the company opened its first store in Santa Monica. With sales soaring, BRS expanded its retail and distribution operations up and down the East Coast. By 1980, Nike had a 50% share of the US athletic footwear market, and the company went public in December of that year. In 2024 Nike had sales of  $ 51 billion and employs 79,000 people.

Is there a Phil Knight family office?

While Phil Knight does not own a single family office directly related to him, he is engaged in “Oak Hill Capital Partners”, the private equity investment firm of Robert Bass.

How does the Knight family office invest?

Oak Hill Partners invests primarily in middle market companies in the consumer, retail, distribution, industrial, media and communications sectors. It also invests in start-ups and real estate. For example, Oak Hill Partners has invested in Pulsant, a company operating in the growing market for managed data center services and cloud computing. In addition to investing through Oak Hill Capital, Phil Knight has also made private investments such as “Tout”, which he funded in a Series B funding round. The company has developed personalized TV technology with the first patented AI technology that delivers targeted video programming based on a user’s personal attributes and location.

This article is part of our detailed report “The single family offices of the richest US families“

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