Swoosh; The Unauthorized Story of Nike, and the Men Who Played There

New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Fair/Fair. xxi, [1], 682 pages. Illustrations. Footnotes. Index. Black mark on top edge. Wear and soiling to DJ. Wear and soiling to cover and endpapers, edges and some pages at the bottom. Some yellow highlighting noted. Six smart but inexperienced men--a Stanford MBA, a track coach, a paralyzed long jumper, a former welfare worker, a lawyer, and an accountant--pioneered the most successful sports company in history. This is the incredible story of how Phil Knight, with literally no financial backing, founded a small shoe company, Blue Ribbon Sports, which within one year became a billion-dollar company, today known as Nike. J. B. Strasser was Nike's first advertising manager, and Laurie Becklund was a Los Angeles Times writer. Nike, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment. The company was founded on January 25, 1964, as "Blue Ribbon Sports", by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, and officially became Nike, Inc. on May 30, 1971. The company takes its name from Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Nike markets its products under its own brand, as well as Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan, Nike Blazers, Air Force 1, Nike Dunk, Air Max, Foamposite, Nike Skateboarding, Nike CR7, and subsidiaries including Air Jordan and Converse. Derived from a Kirkus review: An unusually entertaining and informative corporate history that traces the rise, fall, and recovery of NIKE Inc., the world- class supplier of athletic shoes and casual clothing. The authors had no cooperation from either the company or its founder, Philip H. Knight, however, they offer an authoritative, unsparing account of how a fledgling firm whose first sales reps sold sneakers from car trunks at track meets became a pacesetting multinational. Strasser, NIKE's first advertising manager, married a lawyer who, until his 1987 resignation, was one of the boss's closest cronies; Becklund, Strasser's sister, is a staff writer at The Los Angeles Times. Drawing on inside information and interviews as well as archival material, they recount how Knight, a long-distance runner at Oregon University, parlayed his Stanford MBA thesis into a lucrative global business venture that caught the crest of the stateside booms in jogging and fitness, generating annual revenues exceeding $3 billion. Along the way, Knight recruited a crew of blithe spirits who prized the Animal House camaraderie of the company's formative years. Having survived a penchant for cutting corners, NIKE hit its stride during the 1970's, besting Adidas, Converse, Puma, et al. and permitting the company to go public in 1980. It found it difficult, however, to meet the expectations of investors and Wall Street analysts. In fact, management stumbled badly, missing the markets for aerobic and fashion footwear pioneered by archrival Reebok. Thanks in large measure to the prescient signing of such all-pro spokesmen as Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson, though, plus some innovative new products, NIKE bootstrapped its way back onto the fast track. But turnaround carried a price, since many of the freewheelers who had helped build the company departed. An engrossing narrative that evenhandedly assesses the making and maturation of a consequential enterprise.