Nike co-founder Phil Knight to step down as chairman

Phil Knight, a middle-distance runner who teamed up with his track coach at Oregon to start a footwear and apparel company that made the Nike swoosh one of the most recognizable logos in the world, has announced plans to step down as company chairman. The company was originally named Blue Ribbon Sports, but changed in 1978 to Nike — the winged goddess of victory in Greek mythology — on the advice of a friend. Two years later, he paid $35 to Carolyn Davidson for the original swoosh logo design now plastered across the uniforms and shoes of athletes from the World Cup to Little League. Building the brand through shrewd advertising campaigns and top-flight celebrity athlete endorsers like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, he turned the company into what Forbes called the “most valuable sports brand in the world.”