Phil Knight (born 1938) is the founder and head of Nike, Inc., the number one athletic shoe company in the world. Already a legend in the retail and marketing worlds, Knight has turned into something of a mainstream hero, the subject of admiring articles in popular magazines. It is a reputation Knight has earned over the years as both a visionary businessman and a hard-nosed CEO.

The man whom The Sporting News named the "most powerful" person of the year in sports for 1993 was no athlete, coach, or commissioner. Rather, it was the man who for nearly 30 years has shod the great sports stars as well as the Saturday-afternoon "jocks"--Nike founder and CEO Philip "Phil" Knight. The former college track runner refers to Nike's world headquarters as a campus and runs it that way. "His every move is now scrutinized as carefully as the glamorous superstars who wear...