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   Phil Knight

 

Portland native Phil Knight's swoosh empire continues to outperform. Firm was named the NFL's official on-field apparel provider in October 2010, replacing rival Reebok. Nike also recently signed boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and reportedly has plans to release a "Pacman" product line similar to Michael Jordan's. Knight, a former University of Oregon track star, founded Blue Ribbon sports in 1964, selling Japanese running shoes out of the trunk of his car at track meets on the weekends while teaching accounting at Portland State. He renamed his company Nike after the Greek goddess of Victory in 1971 and paid Carolyn Davidson $35 to design the company's iconic swoosh logo. Travis, Knight's son, serves as president and CEO of Knight's stop-motion film studio, Laika. The studio released its first feature film, Coraline, in 2009 and plans to release its second film, ParaNorman, in the summer of 2012. The Knight Management Center at Stanford University opened this past May. The 8 building complex cost a reported $345 million to construct, with $105 million coming from Knight himself.

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