August 2, 2005
A pay cut for Nike’s Phil Knight
BEAVERTON — Nike co-founder Phil Knight will earn a third less this year than last, in a pay cut meant to reflect his downsized role in the multinational corporation.
Knight, who began the footwear and athletic apparel company selling sneakers out of the trunk of his car, is still the chairman of Nike Inc. But he stepped down as CEO last December, passing the
baton to an outsider named William D. Perez.
This coming year, Knight will receive a salary of $1 million, compared to the $1.27 million he received for the year which ended May 31, according to documents filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission Friday.
Knight’s bonus pay was also slashed by one third to $1.55 million for 2005.
Still, Knight owns over a quarter of the company’s Class B stock, worth roughly $5.46 billion according to last week’s closing prices on Friday.
Perez, the newly minted CEO, earned a salary of $467,000 and a bonus of over $1.1 million for the year ending this May. He has also received stock worth roughly $9 million and options
for 200,000 shares.
