Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States.

It is the world's leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment.

It was founded on January 25, 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by University of Oregon track athlete Philip Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman. The company initially operated as a distributor for Japanese shoe maker Onitsuka Tiger.

It officially became Nike, Inc. in 1972, when BRS introduced its first line of Nike shoes, with the name Nike, taking its name from the Greek goddess of victory.

By 1980, Nike had reached a 50% market share in the United States athletic shoe market, and the company went public in December of that year.

A part from Nike product, it produces also products under the brands of Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan, Nike Skateboarding and subsidiaries including Cole Haan, Hurley International, Umbro and Converse.

It operates retail stores under the Niketown name, but it also has contracted with more than 700 shops around the world and has offices located in 45 countries outside the United States.

Nike's three main product engines - footwear, apparel and equipment - used almost 700 contract factories in 52 countries to manufacture all Nike products. Most of the factories are located in Asia, including Indonesia, China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Philippines,and Malaysia.

Nike has been criticized for contracting with factories in countries where are violated labor rights, such as minimum wage and overtime working conditions and exploitation of cheap overseas labor employed.

The company is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon. The original Nike World Headquarters first opened its doors in December 1989. By 2001, the original campus had doubled in size with the addition of six more buildings.

Nike sponsors many high profile athletes and sports teams around the world, with the highly recognized trademarks of "Just do it" and the Swoosh logo, such as Carl Lewis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Sebastian Coe. However, it was the signing of basketball player Michael Jordan in 1984, with his subsequent promotion of Nike over the course of his storied career with Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon, that proved to be one of the biggest boosts to Nike's publicity and sales.

In 2008 revenue were in excess of $18.6 billion USD. As of 2008, it employed more than 30,000 people worldwide.

Its current CEO and President is Mark Parker.

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