The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 90 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
The Viral 'Nike 10 Principles' Memo Was Written by Rob Strasser
“Here are the things that are wrong with that statement. One, Phil Knight did not write it. Rob Strasser did. Two, Nike's principles. Also incorrect. When this was written, it was actually still Blue Ribbon Sports, so that it was not yet the Nike corporation. T…”
Weber: Nike signed a 27-year marketing agreement with USATF
“Nike, ah, signs a 27 year marketing agreement with the governing body of our sport, USA Track and Field.”
Rosenthal: Nike secured Indian cricket team kit sponsorship for $52M/year
“So Nike comes in and wins at fifty-two million
Dollars a year.”
Nike Hit $3.2 Million in Revenue in 1972 After Splitting From Tiger
“That year, so this is 1972. Blue Ribbon's first full year doing sales as Nike, purely on their own. They do 3.2 million dollars in revenue. Remember, just a couple years before their last kind of full year with Tiger, they were doing half a million dollars in …”
Phil Knight and Insiders Retained 56% of Nike at IPO
“Phil Knight basically never took on any equity investors, and so he took no dilution. He and his management team and Bill Bowerman owned 56% at IPO, him owning 46% because he just kept betting the farm all on debt and basically had no buffer at all.”
Bill Bowerman Pitched Shoe Designs Directly to Adi Dassler in the 1950s
“Based on letters in the University of Oregon and Nike archives, Bill Bowerman corresponded directly with many footwear manufacturers in the 19 fifties, so like 15 plus years before this, including Adi Dassler, directly to Adi Dassler, trying to purchase shoes …”
Nike Priced Air Jordan 2 at $100 and Made It in Italy
“The Air Jordan twos cost a hundred dollars. The Air Jordan ones cost 65 dollars. The Air Jordan twos were made in Italy out of premium Italian leather.”
Nike Manufactures 100% of Its Nitrogen-Filled Air Bags in Oregon
“Nike manufactures zero shoes, but they manufacture 100% of the nitrogen-filled little airbags. They do it in Oregon because that's trade secret, and then they ship those over to their Asian manufacturing facilities to put them in the shoes.”
Mark Parker Designed the Pegasus, Nike's Longest Continuous Running Shoe Line
“He designed the Pegasus, which I think is the longest single-running model with no pauses in Nike's history.”
Jordan Brand Grew Roughly 35% Annually Over the Past Three Years
“So the Jordan brand is the fastest growing part of Nike. Nike grows, like, 10% a year. The Jordan brand, over the last three years, keeps growing at, like, 35%.”
Mass Brand Extension Risks Destroying Belief in Pinnacle Performance
“And the hardest thing is figuring out how to extend that audience and make products for them to buy without compromising that step one, that belief that you make Pinnacle products. And what Nike has been able to do and thread that needle and figure out how to …”
Phil Knight Owned 46% of Nike Following Its 1980 IPO
“So when they went public, after the IPO, Phil owned 46% of the company and was overnight one of the richest people in America.”
Nike Was Exclusively a Running Shoe Company Prior to Its 1980 IPO
“Okay, so we're approaching 1980, they're about to go public, and they are entirely a running shoe company.”
Nike Generates Over $50B in Revenue Without Directly Manufacturing Shoes
“What makes this company the single largest apparel business in the world today, outside of luxury, of course, and how is it possible to be a shoe company that does over fifty billion dollars in revenue when they technically don't make a single shoe?”
Frank Rudy Earned 10 to 20 Cents Per Pair on Air Soles
“Rudy gets between 10 to 20 cent royalty for each pair of air sole technology shoes that Nike sells. Eventually Nike would just buy Rudy's company, and Rudy would become an employee of Nike.”
Tim Cook Joined Nike's Board in 2005, Launching Nike+ iPod
“Tim joins Nike's board. I believe in, like, late 2005 he joined the board. He immediately starts helping Nike into understanding how to use digital technology to transform their business. And in 2006, they launched the Nike Plus iPod.”
Direct-to-Consumer Sales Account for 40% of Nike's Revenue
“About 60% is still wholesale, is still sold through retailers, and impressively, 40% of this very large business, this fifty billion dollar revenue business, Is now done selling products directly to consumers, either in stores or on their website.”
Nike Acquired Converse for $309 Million in 2003
“In 2003, they acquire Converse for three hundred and nine million dollars.”
Nike Market Cap Dropped From $20B to $8B During Dot-Com Crash
“Their market cap drops from twenty billion to eight billion dollars.”
Rob Strasser and Peter Moore Left Nike to Lead Adidas America
“An item among many that is not discussed in the movie is that Rob, shortly after signing Jordan, had an enormous fight with Phil Knight, left the company with Peter Moore, who was the designer behind Jordan's, and ended up joining Adidas as CEO of Adidas Ameri…”
Phil Knight Controls Nike Through Dual-Class Voting Shares and the Board
“Nike has a dual class voting structure. Phil Knight controls all the high vote shares, and he controls the board.”
Nike Held Its IPO the Same Week as Apple in 1980
“So, Nike IPOs, the second week of December in 1980, the same week as Apple.”
Nike Has 500 Million Quarterly Active Users Across Mobile Apps
“Across the four mobile apps that Nike operates today, they have five hundred million users a quarter who are now using Nike digital apps.”
Nike Signed Its First Athlete Endorsement With Ilie Năstase for $10K
“So they had already, before Rob joined, done the first official sponsorship of an athlete with Ili Nastassi, the tennis player. They paid him 10,000 dollars to wear Nike tennis shoes.”
Nike Pays Roughly $200M Annually for NFL Uniform Rights
“They're now the official uniform supplier of the MLB, the NFL, and the NBA, and they're throwing huge dollars. Like, the NFL deal alone is something like a two hundred million dollar a year deal.”
Nike Inc. Was Founded in 1971 as a Subsidiary of Blue Ribbon
“So in 1971, they do create Nike Inc. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Blue Ribbon Sports, and it is responsible for manufacturing, well, or contracting with manufacturers to make this line of shoes, this Nike-designed line of shoes owned by Blue Ribbon Sport…”
The Sneaker Industry Follows a Power Law With Adidas Half Nike's Size
“There's Nike, there's Adidas that's half their size, and then the third place player is well less than half of Adidas' size.”
The Nike+ iPod Was the First Corporate Product to Use 'Plus'
“And this was the first corporate use of plus in a product name.”
Phil Knight Did Not Believe in Advertising in Nike's Early Years
“Phil Knight to this point, which is hilarious given Nike today, doesn't believe in advertising, and so he's like, Fine, I'll give in to some other people who are advising me that I should make some brochures or something.”
Nike Has Increased Dividends for 30 Consecutive Quarters
“They've now had 30 consecutive quarters of increasing dividend payouts, so it's a dividend stock with eleven billion of cash on hand in addition to continually paying these dividends.”
Bill Bowerman Rebuilt Running Shoes With Snake and Fish Skin
“He would rip shoes apart, and he would rebuild them, this is from the Nike website, with snake skin, deer hide, or fish skin.”
The Name 'Nike' Was Originally Chosen For a Football Cleat Model
“This wasn't intended to be Nike. This was intended to be the name of the model of the football cleat.”
Nike Extended Michael Jordan's Endorsement by 7 Years With $18M Guarantee
“They extend the deal for seven more years, I believe at the same five percent royalty on gross sales, but there's the new massive further commitment to making the Jordan sub-brand much more of its own brand. And they up the total guarantee to at least eighteen…”
Nike Revenue Scaled From $14M to $150M in the Late 1970s
“They go from fourteen million in sales to twenty-nine million in sales to seventy-one million in sales, finishing out in 1979 with a hundred and fifty million in sales.”
The Nike Swoosh Was Not Inspired by the Greek Goddess of Victory
“There's this myth running around forever and ever that the swoosh is inspired by one of those wings. The name Nike came after the design of the swoosh, which, by the way, also was not called a swoosh yet.”
Nike Was Likely the First Foreign Footwear Company Allowed in China
“Nike would be one of the very first companies, and I think the first footwear company that would be allowed to sell in China.”
The Cortez Shoe Debuted With Onitsuka Branding, Not the Nike Swoosh
“When they came out, it had the Onitsuka, now Asics, Design on it, not the swoosh.”
Weber: Brooks Was #1 in Houston Half Marathon, #2 Behind Nike Overall
“So Houston Marathon, 8006 thousand marathoners, 12,000 halves. Number one shoe in the half, Brooks. Number two shoe in the full. There's a little brand down in Portland, Oregon. They were number one. But we are on their heels.”
Nike Is More Than Twice the Size of Adidas
“For context, today, Nike is, what, more than twice the size of Adidas?”