How much is the Nike founder worth today? If you’re searching for the number behind the Swoosh, you’re asking about Phil Knight, Nike’s co-founder and the name behind most headlines that mention “Nike founder net worth.”
As of November 2025, the live figure moves with Nike’s stock price, ticker NKE. It can shift by billions in a single day. In this guide, I’ll give a clean range from trusted trackers, explain what drives it, show how it changed over time, and outline what it means for control, giving, and legacy.
Here’s the short version you came for.
Nike founder net worth today: quick answer and source of truth
As of November 2025, the best public estimate of the Nike founder net worth, namely Phil Knight’s, sits in the ballpark of the mid tens of billions.
Most reputable trackers place him roughly in the 40 to 55 billion dollar range, and they update that number all day based on the market.
- Source of truth: Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List and the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
- Important context: Bill Bowerman, Nike’s other co-founder, passed away in 1999. So when you see “Nike founder net worth” today, it refers to Phil Knight or, in some lists, Phil Knight and family.
- Prices move: These valuations are real-time, so the figure can swing several billion dollars in a single session.
- Core driver: Nike’s market cap, and the size of Knight’s stake, do most of the work on the scoreboard.
Who is the Nike founder? Meet Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman
Phil Knight co-founded Blue Ribbon Sports with his college coach, Bill Bowerman, in 1964. The company became Nike in 1971, complete with the Swoosh and a new playbook for athletic marketing. Bowerman helped push innovation in running shoes and track spikes. He died in 1999. Today, when you see “Nike founder net worth” in the news, it points to Phil Knight.
Latest net worth estimate for Phil Knight (November 2025)
For a current figure, check Forbes Real-Time and Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, since both adjust throughout the day. As of November 2025, both tend to group Phil Knight in a range around the mid tens of billions, about 40 to 55 billion dollars. The range reflects Nike’s share price at any moment and the fact that private assets get marked with estimates, not precise public quotes. If NKE pops, the headline number climbs. If it drops, the total follows.
Want the exact number right now? Open Forbes Real-Time, then cross-check Bloomberg. In fast markets, they may show different snapshots.
How net worth is calculated for billionaires like Knight
The math is simple in concept.
- Public stock value: Value of Nike shares he owns or controls.
- Private assets: Stakes in private companies such as Laika, plus real estate, cash, and funds.
- Less debt: Any known borrowings.
Trusts often hold shares for estate planning or control. Wealth trackers still attribute the economic value to him, even if the shares sit in an entity with his name off the front page.
How Phil Knight compares with other sports brand founders
Compared with founders tied to Under Armour or the legacy behind Adidas, Knight ranks higher because Nike is larger across footwear and apparel, has deeper global reach, and holds powerful franchises at premium price points.
The combination of scale, margins, and brand heat keeps Nike’s equity value ahead, which lifts Knight’s net worth. The result is a wider gap versus most peers in the category.
What drives Phil Knight’s net worth and how it moves
Phil Knight’s fortune tracks a few clear levers.
- His Nike stake, both direct and through entities like Swoosh LLC.
- The Nike share price, which reflects sales trends, margins, guidance, and macro news.
- Dividends and buybacks, which add cash and can lift per-share value over time.
- Secondary drivers, like Laika and other investments, which add to the base.
If you want to guess where the number will go next, watch Nike earnings, product demand, inventories, China trends, and guidance. Those headlines flow right into the stock, which flows into the net worth ticker.
Nike stake, share classes, and percent ownership
Nike has two main share classes.
- Class A shares carry stronger voting rights and are not widely traded.
- Class B shares are the common stock most investors own.
Phil Knight historically held Class A shares and has long exercised voting influence through entities tied to his holdings. Over time, he has placed shares in trusts and in Swoosh LLC, an entity created to hold Class A stock and manage long-term control.
Based on public filings and common estimates, his economic interest sits in the low to mid teens as a percentage of Nike’s total shares as of 2025. The exact number moves as trusts shift, as entities make transfers, and as the company buys back shares.
The takeaway is simple. He still holds a significant economic stake and, through Class A structures, has had outsized voting power relative to his equity slice.
Stock price swings, dividends, and buybacks
The daily action comes from NKE’s price. A five percent swing in Nike can move Phil Knight’s net worth by billions. Dividends add steady cash to the picture. Buybacks reduce the share count, which can raise the value of remaining shares if profits hold up.
One typical example: a strong earnings beat, paired with healthy guidance and cleaner inventories, can push the stock up in a single session. That jump alone can add billions to the live net worth estimate. The reverse is true after a weak outlook.
Other assets: Laika, real estate, cash, and funds
Phil Knight’s wealth is not just Nike stock, though Nike is the main piece.
- Laika: A stop-motion animation studio led by his son, Travis Knight. It is private, so estimates vary, but it contributes meaningful, if smaller, value.
- Real estate: High-end properties in Oregon and other locations.
- Cash and funds: Proceeds from dividends and past stock sales often sit in diversified holdings, such as index funds, bonds, and private vehicles.
These assets can add billions in aggregate, yet they remain smaller than the Nike stake in most third-party tallies.
Trusts, Swoosh LLC, and tax planning
Over the years, Knight has shifted shares into trusts and entities like Swoosh LLC. These moves can reduce direct ownership on paper, change voting control paths, and align with estate planning. Most wealth trackers still count the economic value toward him or his family when they estimate the Nike founder net worth.
From Blue Ribbon to billions: a timeline of wealth growth
The story of “Nike founder net worth” is really the story of one stake compounding for decades. Here is the quick arc, tied to simple money moments.
1964 to 1980: Blue Ribbon Sports and the Nike IPO
In 1964, Knight and Bowerman started Blue Ribbon Sports as a shoe importer. In 1971, the Nike name and Swoosh arrived, along with a push into original designs. The 1980 IPO turned paper ownership into liquid wealth with a market price. That set the base for the future fortune, since every gain in Nike’s stock built on that stake.
1980s to 2000s: Jordan era and global expansion
The Air Jordan partnership reshaped sports marketing and demand. Nike built franchises around running, basketball, and cross-training, then scaled them across the globe. As sales grew and margins improved, the stock climbed. Knight’s net worth rose with each new wave of brand heat and category growth.
2010s to early 2020s: tech boom and market dips
A long bull market lifted NKE through much of the 2010s. Digital sales and the direct-to-consumer model added fuel. The pandemic years brought sharp swings, supply chain snags, and then recovery. Those swings flowed straight into the real-time net worth trackers, often changing the headline number by billions in a week.
2024 to 2025: what changed this year
In 2025, investors watched a few key items.
- Guidance updates: Any shift in revenue or margin outlook hit the stock right away.
- Product pipeline: Running innovations, basketball drops, and Jordan brand momentum helped shape demand.
- China trends: Consumer strength and inventory health in Greater China remained a swing factor.
- Inventory and costs: Cleaner inventories and cost discipline supported gross margins.
- Buybacks and dividends: Capital returns added support even when the macro picture got noisy.
Each of these signals fed into the Nike share price, so they shaped how large the Nike founder net worth looked compared with last year.
Giving, legacy, and control: what happens to the fortune
This story is not only about a number on a screen. It is also about where the money goes, who holds voting power, and how the family stewards the brand and broader legacy.
Major gifts to Oregon, Stanford, and health research
Phil and Penny Knight have made some of the largest gifts in higher education and health research.
- University of Oregon: Major support for athletics facilities and the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact.
- Stanford University: A landmark gift to the Graduate School of Business and the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program.
- OHSU: A record-setting pledge for cancer research that helped transform the program.
Large gifts reduce listed net worth over time, since assets move from personal ownership to foundations or institutions. They also signal where the family wants lasting impact.
Who runs what: board roles, voting power, and succession
Phil Knight is no longer running day-to-day operations. Nike is led by professional executives and a seasoned board. Class A shares, many controlled through Swoosh LLC and related entities, have historically carried stronger voting rights.
Trusts help plan for long-term control even as direct ownership shifts. That structure allows the company to be managed by operators while founder influence still shapes the vote.
Family ties: Travis Knight, Laika, and the Knight Foundation
Travis Knight leads Laika, the stop-motion studio backed by the family. The broader philanthropic footprint runs through foundations and gifts that support education, sports, and health. These vehicles, along with trusts, form the framework for how the Knight family aims to pass on resources and values.
A quick snapshot of the Nike founder net worth inputs
Here is a simple view of the major pieces most trackers consider.
|
Component |
What it is |
Why it matters |
|
Nike shares (Class A/B) |
Direct and entity-held stock tied to NKE |
Main driver of daily net worth changes |
|
Dividends and buybacks |
Cash payouts and reduced share count |
Adds steady cash, can lift per-share value over time |
|
Laika and private holdings |
Private company equity and other investments |
Adds billions, but smaller than the Nike stake |
|
Real estate |
Properties in Oregon and elsewhere |
High-value, but not the primary source |
|
Trusts and Swoosh LLC |
Ownership and voting structures |
Affect control and attribution, not economic value total |
FAQs, answered fast
- Why does the Nike founder net worth move so much? Because NKE trades every second, and his fortune is tied to it.
- Does philanthropy change the net worth lists? Yes, large gifts reduce personal totals shown by trackers.
- Is Bill Bowerman included? No, he passed in 1999. Current lists refer to Phil Knight or his family.
- Where can I see the live number? Forbes Real-Time and the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Conclusion
Phil Knight’s wealth sits in the tens of billions, and that number is tied to Nike’s stock first, then to private assets and cash. Decades of brand building, global scale, dividends, and buybacks have shaped the figure you see on rich lists. Large gifts to universities and health research also shape the long-term story, along with entities that help manage control and succession.
If you want the latest number, check Forbes Real-Time or Bloomberg. Looking ahead, earnings, product heat, and consumer demand will keep moving the ticker, one quarter at a time.
