Knight's love-hate relationship with Oregon
Nike Inc. co-founder Phil Knight may have "webs between his toes," according to a fiery column he wrote for The Oregonian in 2010, but he also has a history of clashing with Oregon lawmakers.
That makes Friday's special session of the Legislature an unprecedented game of chicken between lawmakers and the most powerful man in Oregon business.
At the meeting, lawmakers will consider a proposal that would allow Gov. John Kitzhaber to lock-in Nike's taxes for future years, likely attracting at least a $150 million Nike expansion project.
The meeting comes less than two years after Knight said the state was in a "death spiral" in a column in The Oregonian. He described two business tax increases (Measures 66 and 67, both of which passed) as "Oregon's Assisted Suicide Law II."
Last year, Knight lashed out after the Board of Higher Education said it would not renew the contract of University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere, calling the decision an "embrace of mediocrity." He subsequently joined with other high-profile executives and formed a political action committee to lobby for education reform.
Nike and the city of Beaverton also duked it out in 2004 after the city announced plans to annex unincorporated territory, including Nike’s headquarters in unincorporated Washington County.
At the same time Knight has criticized Oregon leaders, he's become the most powerful philanthropist in state history. He and wife Penny gave Oregon Health & Science University $125 million this year. That's in addition to the $100 million the Knights gave in 2008.
He also paid for a $41.7 million center for University of Oregon athletes. That's on top of the $100 million gift he made to the University of Oregon Athletics Legacy Fund that propelled the university's rise to athletic prominence, the largest gift in the university's history.
Knight also gave $105 million to Stanford Business School.
A full tally of Knight's generosity will likely never be known. A source familiar with Knight's giving once told me he often requests anonymity when he writes big checks. He doesn't care for the publicity.
Friday's debate comes against that backdrop.
Knight is no longer the Fortune 500 company's CEO, but his voice is the one that matters most. He owns 74.8 percent of the company's powerful Class A shares, which elect three-fourths of the company's board, according to Nike's last proxy statement.
Knight's overwhelming generosity and his displeasure with Oregon leaders put Oregon lawmakers in a tough spot. How far should a state bend?
The stakes couldn't be higher.
someone needs to introduce Phil to dental floss. I bet his breath smells like the intestinal gases of a road kill deer.
I like Phil.  He knows how to organize dirt cheap labor in Malaysia as opposed to creating jobs here and pocket the difference and give some to Oregon so he can feel like a hero.  What a nice corporate guy!
Hate to break this to ya Phil baby, but that goatee thing ain't workin' for ya !
I like Knight. He gets it. Government stands in the way of business all the time but most are too small to have an impact on anything. Knight puts the politicians feet to the fire and tells them like it is.
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Too many other CEO's play the political game and never say anything that would "offend" the political hacks.
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The world needs more Phil Knights.
 @RalphCramden Knight is just like you and me, looking for a good deal but he'll have to just rest on the fact he's a billionaire and he'll be comfortable no matter what. Rich can pay more to balance the budget after ShrubCo's failures. Get over it.
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Government is not the problem, man. Get off that ancient canard. Uneducated rube!
 @browntownÂ
So if government is not the problem then why are so many businesses and jobs leaving the country?
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As for uneducated, I guess my 2 degrees don't count and neither will my third which will be done in the spring.
Wait, lower taxes attracts businesses? I wonder if Oregon has considered that lower income taxes might attract workers?
Better picture of Mr, Knight and ORYGUN gubmint better listen to men of such standing who have accomplished more in a month than anyone in Salem has done in so many years that I have forgotten and I used to party with Gov. Tom McCall...
kitzhaber doesn't want small business in oregon. voters on measure 81 voted no but the "governor" has bypassed a million voters to close commercial fishing on the columbia. His hand picked fish commission is anti business also. He states that small business runs Oregon and he runs them out of town.
How far should you bend? Really? That's the question? Don't bend at all. Send them packing in the usual backwards Oregon way. But find a way to structure the deal to make it available to other businesses, not just the two businesses that would benefit from it, Nike and Intel.
I think Mr Nike's philanthropic donations are wonderful... but I would have more respect for him if he brought actual JOBS back home to Oregon. Â The working people in this state need support, too. Â Most of those that are unemployed don't want hand-outs; they want WORK, with wages sufficient to support themselves and their families.
I also agree with MadMax64; our state "leadership" needs to focus ore on our small businesses; encouraging and helping new ones, and supporting growth for existing ones. Â Â A bigger tax base with those businesses would make us less dependent on the very large businesses, since their loss, if they close or move elsewhere, will hurt more. Â Â
 @margay1Â
My friend fixes computers out of his house. His neighbors have been complaining of the traffic so he decided to get a small shop to fix computers and was all set to rent a place on Division.
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He had to apply for a business license. That is when it all started to get weird. Being that he was dealing with "toxic" substances he had to have an environmental plan. Then there were other requirements that took him months to get approved. Then there was the city, state and federal taxes that cut into his profit significantly.
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So he is still working out of his house fixing computers. He deals with cash only so that there is no way to track his income and he doesn't pay any taxes.
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Government hates small businesses and, in my friends case, promotes underground businesses.
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The black market is alive and well and thriving.
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As for creating jobs in Oregon of the US, it is just too expensive. Nike would have to charge $200 per pair of shoes if they were made in the US. US taxes and excessive regulation are among the worlds worst and most companies prefer to operate outside the US for those reasons.
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As Victor Kiam once said, the US will eventually stop making anything and will soon be doing nothing but selling insurance to each other. He was correct.
 @RalphCramden ~  Sadly, Ralph I think  you're right...  it isn't so much "Oregon" being unfriendly to business; the whole darned COUNTRY has gotten that way...at least with businesses that make anything... Â
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 @margay1Â
Between government regulations, taxes and unions there is no reason to have a business in the US.
 @margay1 Why bring jobs to the state if the state has a history of being hostile to business?
 @Unknown ~  Well, I was referring mostly to businesses that are already here... what we need to change is our "climate", if you will, towards small businesses... to make it more friendly. Â
Giving all our support to a few "chosen" businesses, and ignoring all the others, puts us in an extremely perilous position if those "chosen" businesses decide to pull up stakes and move away...and from what I can see, that is exactly what our state government has done. Â Â
I agree with you, that if I had a business that I was thinking of relocating, Oregon would not be a state that I would consider, given its past and present, as you say, hostile attitude. Â Â
All that money and he can't pay a visit to the dentist once in awhile?
Kitzhaber can't create jobs here so now he's giving tax breaks to keep jobs here. Knight knows best, this state is in a "death spiral". Any other state in the union will pay top dollar to have the Nike headquarters located there. Oregon is scrambling to keep them here.
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Sure would be nice to see Kitzhaber work this hard for small business. All the small business combined in the state of Oregon produces at least five times the jobs and revenue that Nike does.
Nike will get the tax breaks somewhere. Denying these tax guarantees will in no way "stick it to them". So, really the only debate here is do we want the jobs in Oregon or not? May be kind of a hard pill to swallow, but itâs the right way to go.
 @Vince009 Truer words. Ever heard of Delta Airlines? Based in Atlanta, right? Born and bred Louisiana airline, ergo Delta. Left the state. New Orleans actually turned down Disneyworld back in the Day. Ruth's Chris? Born and bred in New Orleans. Moved to Orlando after Katrina. Popeyes? Born and bred in Chalmette (New Orleans). Now an ATL company. Freeport-McMoran energy/minerals? Moved HQ from New Orleans to Arizona after Katrina. The list goes on and on and on. You have no idea how true your comment is.
Phil Knight deserves to have his butt kissed for all the things he done for Oregon.Knight runs his business like Oregon should run it State so Salem try to learn from  Nike how to do business correctly.
 @riderofthelegend That's right, just think of all the people that would be working if they made shoes and clothing in Oregon instead of China and other off shore manufacturing. Bottom line, he doesn't care, The state will bend over for him and the existing Nike establishments will have lower taxes and they will still more stuff out of state/country. It's all about the share holder.
Those forigen workes would love to be paid a decent wage, but Kight already got their countries to shaft them.....
TAX HIM,, TAX HIM,,, TAX HIM TILL HE CAN'T PAY NO MORE TAX. After all it's only fair.
 @oodathunked And off goes Nike and all the money with it......
@'CouvGuy @oodathunked  I am pretty sure their comment was sarcastic. The democratic supporters have been saying that the Republicans have been giving big business tax breaks but Governor K is a Democrat so how do they reconcile this? The answer is that giving tax breaks to big business is common practice to get them to locate in specific areas because they bring jobs. They will get that somewhere, it's better for us if it's here. Now if we could just get them to bring actual MANUFACTURING here.
Wearing dark shades indoors makes you look like a molester, Mr. Knight. Other than that, it can certainly by argued that he's accomplished more for Oregon than the entire body of politicians in Salem.