Sept 19 (Askume) – Elliot Hill started as an intern at Nike Inc (NKE.N) in 1988 but struggled as a single mother living in a working-class neighborhood in Texas, the son of a man with strong values.
Those qualities could come in handy again when Hill becomes the top boss of the global sneaker and athletic apparel brand next month, helping to revive the company where he spent his entire career.
Nike announced Thursday that Hill will become the company’s next CEO on Oct. 14 , replacing the retiring John Donahoe.
Its sales have declined in recent months as more innovative brands such as On and Deckers’ (DECK.N) Hoka have gained market share. Nike said it would take three years to cut $2 billion in costs.
Donahoe is an outsider, brought on in 2020 after serving as chief executive at eBay (EBAY.O), Bain Capital and cloud company ServiceNow (NOW.N) , but Hill is a Nike purebred. He joined Nike in 1988 after dropping out of graduate school at Ohio University, where he lobbied a company representative who was speaking in a sports marketing class.
“I pestered him for six months until he finally hired me,” Hill said on the Fortitude podcast in December. “I told him ‘Everyone in the class has a job except for me.’”
His blue-collar credentials go back even further. Hill was born in Austin in 1963, and his father abandoned the family when he was three. He told the podcast that his mother “set an incredible example of commitment and work ethic.” He said sports became a key part of his childhood.
At Nike, he also worked in sales, including in the Dallas office. “I drove an old Chrysler minivan for two years and put 60,000 miles on it a year,” he said of his early days selling shoes to mom-and-pop retailers.
Hill became president of consumer and marketing in 2018 after serving in other roles including head of Nike’s team sports division and vice president of global retail. He retired in 2020.
Hill remembers Nike as a beacon of innovation. In 1988, he was in the room when the company launched its iconic “Just Do It” campaign. Employees who watched the demo applauded internally, he said on the podcast “Fortitude,” which features people like Hill who live and work in Dallas-Fort Worth. “If you can inspire people inside your company, you know you can inspire people outside of your company,” he said.
Hill did not respond to a Askume email seeking comment. But Nagy said Hill was highly respected internally and he was confident her appointment would be welcomed by staff.
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The Texas Christian University graduate helped lead Nike’s 2018 Dream Crazy campaign, which was narrated by NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. He also developed relationships with famous athletes, including Michael Jordan.
When Hill wanted to take the Jordan Brand global, the basketball star panicked and said he planned to leave a pair of his size 13 shoes on Hill’s desk. Hill recalled Jordan saying, “I want you to think about those shoes, and if our revenue comes back, I’ll come and make you wear them.”
Hill laughed when describing the moment on the podcast. “It was mostly a joke,” he said, “but you know I felt like they had faith in us and they were willing to take the risk.”
Hill and his wife, Gina, established a scholarship at Central Catholic High School in Portland, Oregon, where the couple’s children attend. Hill raised the scholarship fund by auctioning off a collection of sports memorabilia he collected over his three decades at Nike.
The Laundry, a Portland clothing store that sells vintage sports team apparel, has partnered with Hill to participate in the 2022 auction, owner Chris Yen told Askume on Thursday.
Yan didn’t know anything about Hill when he got the call. Hill told Yan he found the store through his son and wanted to partner with them. Yen said the auction raised $2.1 million from memorabilia sales and private donations.
He said, “Elliott is the best person for the job and the best person to help Nike win again.”
Wall Street analysts expect Hill to bring new energy to the Nike brand.
“The company continues to lack product innovation,” said Oppenheimer analyst Brian Nagel, adding that “management has been reluctant to resume partnerships with major retailers.”
Analyst Jessica Ramirez of Jane Haley & Associates puts it bluntly: At Nike, she says, “the culture has become different.”
