Phil Knight

“We could see that he was a charismatic guy who jumps over the moon and is very competitive, but nobody could have predicted what he would become to our culture.”

“When we changed from Tiger to Nike, we had to have a design for the shoe. And where do you go to? There's no 'dial 9-1-1' for design.”

“I don't consider myself enigmatic, but I don't spend a lot of time thinking about my public persona.”

“If there's one thing, I've been pretty good at evaluating people.”

“At first, we couldn't be establishment, because we didn't have any money. We were guerrilla marketers, and we still are, a little bit. But, as we became No. 1 in our industry, we've had to modify our culture and become a bit more planned.”

“I didn't say I'm walking away. I said I was stepping down as chairman. I won't walk away. I'll be carried away.”