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Elliott Hill

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Elliott Hill
Born
Austin, Texas, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationTexas Christian University (BS)
Ohio University (MS)
OccupationBusiness executive
CompanyNike, Inc.
TitlePresident and Chief Executive Officer of Nike, Inc.
SpouseGina Hill
Children2

Elliott Hill is an American business executive who is the president and chief executive officer of Nike, Inc., the Beaverton, Oregon, athletic footwear and apparel company. He returned to the role in October 2024, four years after retiring from Nike, succeeding John Donahoe.[1][2]

Hill spent more than 32 years at Nike, starting as a sales intern in 1988 and rising through sales, retail and marketplace leadership roles in Europe and North America before retiring in 2020 as president of consumer and marketplace.[3] During his four years away from the company he founded an investment vehicle, advised the merchant bank BDT Capital Partners and sat on the boards of several privately and publicly held companies.[1] He returned to Nike's top job in October 2024 at a time of falling sales and a declining share price, and has since pursued a turnaround plan the company calls "Win Now" and a reorganization of its brand divisions around individual sports that it calls "Sport Offense".[4][5]

The company's financial performance and share price have continued to decline for much of Hill's tenure. Its stock fell by about 40 percent during 2026 alone, and in September 2026 the company was removed from the S&P 100 index after nearly 18 years of membership, though it remained in the broader S&P 500.[6][7]

A graduate of Texas Christian University and Ohio University, Hill serves on TCU's board of trustees and, with his wife Gina Hill, has funded a residence hall and several other programmes at the university.[8]

Early life and education

According to Quartr, Hill was born in 1964.[9] He was raised in Austin, Texas, by a single mother who worked as a schoolteacher.[10] Several accounts describe him as a latchkey child who channelled a competitive drive into sport and academics.[5] He worked as a trainer in the Texas Christian University athletics department to help finance his studies and graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology.[3][10] After TCU he worked briefly as an athletic trainer with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League.[10][11]

Hill then enrolled at Ohio University, where he earned a Master's degree in sports administration, completed in 1988.[3] According to an account of his career published by the financial media company Quartr, Hill met a Nike representative, Tim Joyce, during a sports marketing class at Ohio University, and after several months of follow-up was offered an internship with Nike's sales organization at a regional office in Memphis, Tennessee.[9] The same account states that Hill's early sales territory covered accounts in Oklahoma and Texas, and that he attended a 1988 sales meeting at which the company's "Just Do It" advertising slogan was first presented to employees.[9] Hill has also said that his upbringing shaped his approach to leadership, recalling that he "was raised…to be incredibly considerate of those around us, to put others first".[12]

Career

Nike, 1988 to 2020

Hill joined Nike in 1988 as a sales intern and was subsequently hired into the company's sales organization.[9][3] Over the following three decades he held a series of sales, retail and marketplace leadership positions in both Europe and North America, including Apparel Sales Director for Europe, Retail Development Director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Vice President of Sales and Retail for EMEA, Vice President and General Manager of United States Retail, and Vice President of United States Sales, Retail and Nike.com.[3] According to Nike's 2025 proxy statement, Hill was named Corporate Vice President of Global Retail in 2006, Vice President and General Manager of North America in 2010, President of Geographies and Sales in 2013, and President of Geographies and Integrated Marketplace in 2016.[13] In 2018 he was named President, Consumer and Marketplace, a role in which he led all of Nike's commercial and marketing operations, including the profit and loss results, for Nike and its Jordan Brand across the company's four geographic regions.[13][1] During his tenure Nike's business grew to more than $39 billion in revenue.[2] Hill retired from Nike in August 2020, shortly before John Donahoe's appointment as chief executive took full effect.[3]

Away from Nike, 2020 to 2024

After leaving Nike, Hill founded and became the owner of Open Road Resources LLC in 2020.[1] He served as a senior advisor to the merchant bank BDT Capital Partners from 2020 to 2023 and then as an operating partner of its successor firm, BDT & MSD Partners, from 2023 until his return to Nike.[1] During this period he also served as a director of Weber-Stephen Products LLC beginning in August 2020, continuing as a director of its successor public company, Weber Inc., the grill manufacturer, after its 2021 initial public offering; Weber's 2022 proxy statement listed Hill as a member of its board and its compensation committee.[14][3] The same proxy statement listed Hill as a director of Rather Outdoors and of the boot and apparel company Tecovas, Inc.[3] Throughout this period he continued to serve on the Texas Christian University board of trustees, a position he has held since 2013.[8]

Return to Nike as president and CEO, 2024 to present

On 19 September 2024, Nike's board of directors announced that Hill would become president and chief executive officer, effective 14 October 2024, and would also join Nike's board of directors and its executive committee.[1] He succeeded John Donahoe, who retired from the chief executive role and from the board on the same date and remained a non-executive advisor to Nike through 31 January 2025.[1] Nike's executive chairman, Mark Parker, said the board had concluded that Hill's "global expertise, leadership style, and deep understanding of our industry and partners" made him "the right person to lead Nike's next stage of growth".[2] Hill, then 60 years old, said: "NIKE has always been a core part of who I am, and I'm ready to help lead it to an even brighter future."[2][1]

Under an offer letter dated 19 September 2024, Hill's compensation as president and chief executive officer was set at an annual base salary of $1.5 million, a target annual bonus of 200 percent of base salary, and an annual target long term incentive award of $15.5 million, split between performance based restricted stock units, stock options and time based restricted stock units.[1] To compensate him for compensation forfeited from his prior roles, Nike also agreed to a one time restricted stock unit award with a target value of $3 million and a one time cash payment of $4 million, both payable shortly after he started; the cash award was subject to repayment if Hill voluntarily resigned within two years.[1] Hill also agreed to an 18 month covenant not to compete following any termination of his employment.[1]

Since taking office, Hill has overseen a series of organizational changes. On 2 May 2025, Nike eliminated the role of President, Consumer, Product & Brand, resulting in the departure of Heidi O'Neill, a long serving executive, as part of a reorganization of the company's structure.[15] Nike's 2026 proxy statement said the company "continued to refresh our senior leadership team" during the 2026 fiscal year as part of aligning the organization into what it calls its "Sport Offense".[16] In June 2026, Nike announced that David Denton, formerly chief financial officer of Pfizer Inc. and before that of Lowe's Companies, Inc., would become Nike's executive vice president and chief financial officer effective 17 August 2026, succeeding Matthew Friend, who left the company on 4 September 2026 after serving as an advisor to Hill during the transition.[17]

Nike's own 2026 proxy statement and its most recent Form 4 filings, both dated September 2026, confirm that Hill continued to serve as president, chief executive officer and a director of Nike as of that month.[16][18]

Leadership and management style

On taking office in October 2024, Hill gave his personal email address to Nike's then roughly 78,000 employees. He told the television programme Today that he received an "overwhelming" number of emails and text messages in response and that he "responded to every single one of them".[19] He has described his approach to feedback by saying, "I do celebrate the wins, and I make sure people enjoy them, but I am quick to move to, 'Okay, what could we have done better?'"[5]

A central element of Hill's strategy has been reorganizing Nike's structure away from the demographic divisions (women's, men's and children's) used under Donahoe and toward divisions built around individual sports, such as running, basketball and football, an approach the company calls "Sport Offense".[5][16] Hill has also worked to repair relationships with wholesale retail partners, including Dick's Sporting Goods, Foot Locker and JD Sports, after several years in which Nike had emphasized direct to consumer sales at the expense of wholesale distribution.[20][5] Hill said of the company's prior strategy: "We lost our obsession with sport", and "The mistake we made…is that when things started to normalize, we didn't shift back to running the offense that we know so well."[20]

Industry observers have expressed mixed views about the pace of the turnaround. Matt Powell, an analyst at Spurwink River, said of the inherited challenges that "this is not a quick fix" and that Nike's prior leadership "really put them in a deep hole".[21] Hill himself has rated his company's performance against its potential at only 6 out of 10, saying substantial work remains.[21] In December 2025, Hill personally purchased 16,388 shares of Nike Class B common stock on the open market at a weighted average price of about $61.10 per share, worth just over $1 million, a purchase reported publicly as a signal of his own confidence in the turnaround.[22][19]

Hill has also emphasized personal relationships with sponsored athletes and partners as part of his leadership approach. During negotiations to extend the company's National Football League apparel licensing agreement through 2038, Hill contacted NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell directly rather than leaving the negotiation solely to commercial staff, according to Nike's own published account.[5] The same account describes Hill maintaining regular personal contact with sponsored athletes, including the WNBA player Sabrina Ionescu, exchanging messages about product development and performance, and visiting the company's historical archive, including its 1984 Los Angeles Olympics collection, to inform planning for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.[5]

Major deals and strategic decisions

Hill's central strategic initiative since returning to Nike has been the "Win Now" plan, a multi year effort aimed at reducing excess inventory, rebuilding wholesale partnerships and restoring profitability.[4][20] Alongside Win Now, Hill directed the "Sport Offense" reorganization of Nike's internal structure around individual sports rather than demographic categories.[5]

As part of the restructuring, Nike recognized $385 million in employee severance costs during fiscal 2026 related to organizational changes, the majority of which were classified within the company's Global Brand Divisions, North America and EMEA businesses; the company had made $142 million in related cash payments by 31 May 2026, with $243 million still accrued.[23] This followed $443 million in restructuring charges Nike had recognized in fiscal 2024, before Hill's return, under Donahoe's leadership.[23]

The elimination of the President, Consumer, Product & Brand role in May 2025, which ended Heidi O'Neill's tenure as a named executive officer, was among the earliest structural changes Hill made as chief executive.[15] The appointment of David Denton as chief financial officer in 2026, replacing long serving finance chief Matthew Friend, was another significant change to Hill's senior leadership team.[17] By September 2026, Hill's direct reports under the Sport Offense structure included separate presidents for the Nike Brand and the Jordan Brand, along with a chief operating officer position, according to an organizational chart published by TheOrg.[24]

In June 2025, the company said that tariffs imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump could add approximately $1 billion to its costs, and that it would shift some production out of China to reduce its exposure; despite reporting weaker quarterly revenue at the time, shares rose by more than 10 percent after the company issued a better than expected earnings forecast.[20]

Financial and market performance

Nike's revenue and profitability have declined across most of Hill's tenure as chief executive, continuing trends that began before his return. In the fiscal year ended 31 May 2024, the last full year before Hill's return, Nike reported revenue of $51.362 billion and net income of $5.700 billion, with approximately 79,400 employees worldwide.[25] In fiscal 2025, Hill's first partial year in charge, revenue fell to $46.309 billion and net income fell to $3.219 billion, with the company reporting approximately 76,600 employees as of May 2025.[23][13] In fiscal 2026, Hill's first full year as chief executive, revenue was $46.398 billion, essentially flat on a reported basis but down 2 percent on a currency neutral basis, net income was $3.108 billion, and the company's worldwide headcount had declined to approximately 73,000.[23]

Nike's fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 (ended 31 May 2026) produced revenue of $11.0 billion, down 1 percent on a reported basis, with wholesale revenue of $6.6 billion, up 4 percent on a reported basis, while direct to consumer revenue fell 7 percent to $4.1 billion.[4] Gross margin for the quarter increased by 890 basis points to 49.2 percent, an increase Nike attributed in large part to an approximately 900 basis point benefit from an expected recovery of tariffs paid under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.[4] Nike's third fiscal quarter (ended 28 February 2026) produced revenue of $11.3 billion, flat on a reported basis, with wholesale revenue up 5 percent and direct to consumer revenue down 4 percent.[26] Full year fiscal 2026 revenue for the company's wholesale channel rose to $27.5 billion from $25.9 billion the prior year, while direct to consumer revenue continued to decline, a pattern Hill has attributed to his strategy of rebuilding wholesale distribution.[23][6] Announcing the fourth quarter results, Hill said: "In fiscal 2026, we took decisive actions to strengthen the foundation of NIKE, Inc. and reposition our business for long-term growth. We made meaningful structural improvements to lay the groundwork for our Sport Offense…While we continue to face top-line headwinds, we're encouraged by progress in performance product."[4] For the third quarter, Hill said: "This quarter we took meaningful actions to improve the health and quality of our business. The pace of progress is different across the portfolio and the areas we prioritized first continue to drive momentum."[26]

The company's share price fell sharply during this period. According to Fortune, its market capitalization fell from a peak of roughly $264 billion in November 2021 to approximately $57 billion by September 2026, a decline of about 78 percent, with shares trading around $38 compared with a 2021 high of $179.10.[6] The stock fell by about 40 percent during calendar 2026 alone.[6][7] As a result of this decline, the company was removed from the S&P 100 index effective 21 September 2026, after close to 18 years of membership, and was replaced in that index by four technology companies: Dell Technologies, Palo Alto Networks, Arista Networks and SanDisk. It remained a member of the broader S&P 500 index.[6][7] As of September 2026, Hill beneficially owned 395,570 shares of Nike Class B common stock, according to his most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission.[18]

For fiscal 2025, Nike disclosed that Hill's total compensation, as reported in the company's summary compensation table, was $26,018,068, including a prorated base salary of $951,923, the one time $4 million cash award connected to his hiring, $14,887,893 in stock awards and $5,832,678 in option awards.[13] Nike calculated Hill's annualized total compensation for purposes of its CEO pay ratio disclosure at $26,566,145, compared with a median Nike employee's annual total compensation of $48,723, a ratio of roughly 545 to 1.[13] For fiscal 2026, Hill's first full fiscal year in the role, his reported total compensation rose to $36,340,876, including a full year base salary of $1,500,000, $28,137,798 in stock awards, $3,967,113 in option awards and a $2,220,000 non-equity incentive payment.[16] As of 31 May 2025, Hill's balance in Nike's non-qualified deferred compensation plan stood at $9,463,259, after contributions, earnings and withdrawals during the year.[13]

Board memberships and outside roles

Hill has served as a member of Nike's board of directors and its executive committee since October 2024, when he became chief executive.[1] Nike's 2025 and 2026 proxy statements each stated that Hill held no other public company directorships while serving as chief executive.[13][16]

Before returning to Nike, Hill served as a director of Weber-Stephen Products LLC beginning in August 2020 and continued on the board of its successor public company, Weber Inc., following its 2021 initial public offering, through at least early 2023.[14][3] He also served as a director of Rather Outdoors and of Tecovas, Inc., a privately held boot and apparel company, and as a senior advisor and later operating partner at BDT Capital Partners and BDT & MSD Partners.[3][1] Hill has served on the board of trustees of Texas Christian University since 2013.[8]

Controversies

In August 2018, two former employees of the company, Kelly Cahill and Sara Johnston, filed a lawsuit against it in federal court in Oregon on behalf of themselves and other women, alleging that the company paid women lower salaries and smaller bonuses than men in comparable roles, promoted women at lower rates, and tolerated a hostile work environment that included sexual harassment at its Beaverton headquarters.[27] Johnston had worked there from 2008 to 2017 and Cahill, a director level employee, from 2013 to 2017; court filings in the case indicated that, between 2015 and 2019, the company paid women in comparable positions roughly $11,000 per year less on average than men.[27] The conduct alleged in the lawsuit predated Hill's departure from Nike in 2020 and the plaintiffs' own employment at the company had ended by 2017.[27] A trial had been scheduled to begin on 10 March 2025, but following a settlement conference on 11 February 2025, the parties reached a tentative settlement covering the remaining plaintiffs and a proposed class of other employees; specific settlement terms had not been made public as of the reporting in February 2025.[27] Hill is not named or quoted in contemporaneous reporting on the lawsuit or its settlement, and the settlement was reached roughly four months into his tenure as chief executive.[27]

Personal life

Hill is married to Gina Hill, whom he met while working at Nike; they have two children, Austin and Peyton.[10][8] Nike's own published profile of Hill states that he and his wife actively support communities in Portland and Bend, Oregon, and in Austin, Texas, suggesting ties to each of those areas.[11] In a Nike-published interview, Hill connected his wife's 2024 breast cancer diagnosis to his conviction that company leaders should visibly model work life balance for their employees.[5] Hill has said that he does not spend much time looking backward, telling Today: "I'm trying to look forward…It's about athletes. It's about product innovation. Beautiful, coveted product. That wins every single time."[19] In Nike's 2026 proxy statement, which lists each director's favorite products from the company, Hill named the Nike Vomero Plus, the Nike Metcon, the Nike ACG Ultrafly Trail and the Nike ACG Lava Flow.[16]

Philanthropy

Hill and his wife Gina have been prominent donors to Texas Christian University. A residence hall on the east side of the TCU campus, Hill Hall, was dedicated in their honor on 11 April 2025.[8] According to TCU, the couple have also supported the Amon G. Carter Stadium Expansion Project, named the Ronald and Kay Clinkscale Student-Athlete Wellness Lounge within the university's Athletics Human Performance Center, established the Chris Hall and T. Ross Bailey endowed post-graduate internships and the Jo Frances Hill Endowed Scholarship, and supported academic programs in TCU's Neeley School of Business and College of Fine Arts.[8] According to the education news outlet Study International, Hill and his wife also co-organized a 2022 charity auction of rare sports memorabilia, with proceeds supporting the Candace Newland Holley Scholarship, described as a $1.5 million endowment.[28]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 <ref>"Form 8-K, NIKE, Inc.".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.19 September 2024.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 <ref>"NIKE, Inc. Board of Directors announces long-time Nike veteran Elliott Hill to return as President and Chief Executive Officer".NIKE, Inc. (filed as SEC exhibit).19 September 2024.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 <ref>"Weber Inc. 2022 Proxy Statement".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.23 March 2022.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 <ref>"NIKE, Inc. Reports Fiscal 2026 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results".NIKE, Inc. (filed as SEC exhibit).30 June 2026.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 <ref>"Nike's CEO of Sport is Taking the Swoosh Back to Its Roots".NIKE, Inc..Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 <ref>"Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200 billion market-cap wipeout".Fortune.8 September 2026.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 <ref>"Nike Exits S&P 100 After Nearly 18 Years".Yahoo Finance.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 <ref>"Welcome to the Neighborhood: TCU Dedicates Gutierrez, Hill and Walsh Halls".Texas Christian University.11 April 2025.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 <ref>"Elliott Hill: From Intern to CEO at Nike".Quartr.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 <ref>"Just Do It, Lead On: Nike, Inc. President & CEO Elliott Hill '86 Embodies the Mottos".Texas Christian University.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 <ref>"Elliott Hill, President & CEO".NIKE, Inc..Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  12. ↑ <ref>"Elliott Hill".Texas Christian University.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 <ref>"NIKE, Inc. 2025 Proxy Statement".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.17 July 2025.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 <ref>"Form 3, Elliott Hill, Weber Inc.".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.4 August 2021.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 <ref>"Form 8-K, NIKE, Inc.".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.5 May 2025.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 <ref>"NIKE, Inc. 2026 Proxy Statement".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.15 July 2026.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 <ref>"Form 8-K, NIKE, Inc.".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.23 June 2026.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 <ref>"Form 4, Elliott Hill, NIKE, Inc.".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.3 September 2026.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 <ref>"Nike CEO Elliott Hill Says He Gave His Personal Email Address to Employees".TODAY.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 <ref>"Nike's 'refounder': Can Elliott Hill turn the sneaker-maker's luck around?".Fortune.23 January 2025.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 <ref>"Nike is broken. Can Elliott Hill fix it?".Yahoo Finance.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  22. ↑ <ref>"Form 4, Elliott Hill, NIKE, Inc.".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.30 December 2025.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 <ref>"NIKE, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 May 2026".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.15 July 2026.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  24. ↑ <ref>"Elliott Hill, President and Chief Executive Officer at Nike, Inc.".TheOrg.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  25. ↑ <ref>"NIKE, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 May 2024".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.25 July 2024.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 <ref>"NIKE, Inc. Reports Fiscal 2026 Third Quarter Results".NIKE, Inc. (filed as SEC exhibit).31 March 2026.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 <ref>"Nike likely averts trial by settling 2018 sex discrimination lawsuit".19 February 2025.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
  28. ↑ <ref>"How Elliott Hill went from intern to Nike CEO".Study International.Retrieved 28 September 2026.</ref>
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