Revenue: US$36.30 Billion

Country of Origin: USA

Founded: 1964

Employees: 74,400

Nike, the undisputed champion of the shoe manufacturing industry, was founded as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964 by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight. In 1971, Knight rebranded the athletic shoes manufacturer as Nike and, in doing so, created an international icon. Nike is best known for its line of athletic footwear, apparel, recreational products and sports equipment.

Globally, Nike has operations in more than 700 shops in 45 countries. In 2018, Nike ranked 89th on the Forbes Fortune 500 list.

Nike‘s most significant breakthrough came with the 1985 release of Michael Jordan’s Air Jordan, the success of which allowed Nike to expand, acquiring competitors including Converse in 2003 and Starter in 2004.

Nike has acquired and sold a number of clothing and footwear companies throughout its history. Its first acquisition was Cole Haan, a high-end footwear company in 1988, followed by Bauer Hockey in 1994. In 2002, Nike acquired surf clothing company Hurley International from founder Bob Hurley. In 2003, Nike spent $309 million to acquire sports shoe company Converse. The company acquired Starter in 2004 and Umbro, a manufacturer of football uniforms, in 2007.

In order to re-adjust its business lines, Nike began to spin off some of its subsidiaries in the 2000s. It sold Bauer Hockey in 2007 and 2008. The company sold Umbro in 2012 and Cole Haan in 2013. As of 2020, Nike has only one subsidiary: Converse.

In February 2021, Nike acquired Datalogue, a New York-based company focused on digital sales and machine learning technology.