Latest news with #ElliottHill
Bloomberg
5 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Nike CEO Finishes C-Suite Makeover With McDonald's Executive
Nike Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elliott Hill named a new head of communications, capping months of ousters, promotions and hirings as he tries to revive growth at the world's largest sporting brand. Since Hill came out of retirement and returned to Nike in October, he's changed most of the top positions under the CEO. And with the hiring of Michael Gonda from McDonald's Corp. as chief communications officer, Hill has finished revamping Nike's top ranks, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Nike Chief Innovation Officer John Hoke to retire
This story was originally published on Retail Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Retail Dive newsletter. Adding to a long list of leadership changes, Nike Chief Innovation Officer John Hoke will retire after over 30 years at the company, according to an internal memo. Hoke will stay at Nike through Oct. 31 to finalize projects and support a transition. Chief Innovation, Design and Product Officer Phil McCartney (appointed to the position earlier this month) will soon announce Hoke's successor, per the memo. Hoke's replacement will retain the title of chief innovation officer and will operate in addition to McCartney's role. Hoke has been with Nike for the majority of his career, joining the brand in 1995 as a global creative director, per his LinkedIn. The executive served for about 15 years as the company's first chief design officer before taking on the chief innovation officer role. Against the backdrop of a large turnaround journey at Nike, the retailer is losing an executive who leaves a long-lasting mark at the company he's helped shape. CEO Elliott Hill noted that Hoke's impact helped establish the brand's designs and his influence will be long-lasting even after he departs. Hill is also part of a slew of executive leadership shifts at the athletics brand over the past year. He became Nike's CEO in October after John Donahoe exited the position following a decade serving on the company's board and a few years in the top spot. Hill rejoined the brand after retiring four years earlier as Nike's president of consumer and marketplace; he initially started working at Nike as an intern in 1988. The appointment was followed by a larger shakeup at Nike, with the company announcing a new general manager of the North America geography in October and a new global sports marketing lead in November — both appointees having already held positions within Nike. Over the past month, Nike announced the retirement of 26-year veteran Heidi O'Neil, who most recently served as president of consumer, product and brand, choosing to break up her responsibilities into three positions that report directly to Hill. Additionally, Nike appointed a new president of the Nike brand and a chief growth initiatives officer. Under Hill, Nike is continuing to strategically correct the business's approach to its sales strategy. The company is working to reestablish its relationships with wholesalers, who Hill says felt Nike turned its back on after spending more of its energy on direct-to-consumer sales for years. Earnings continue to take a hit as the company is working on this turnaround, in March reporting a 9% drop in Q3 revenue. Nike's wholesale business declined 7% while DTC dropped 12%. Its long-term strategy aims to correct such metrics, with the brand now focused on streamlining its footwear offerings and turning a strategic eye to apparel. Expanding its apparel offerings, Nike announced a partnership with Kim Kardashian's Skims brand in February and expects the first collection to drop this spring. Editor's note: This story has been updated to include additional information on Nike's plans for Hoke's successor. Recommended Reading Adidas creates 'Virtual Gear' product category as it preps for metaverse future Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
John Hoke, Nike's Chief Innovation Officer, to Exit the Company
Another long-time Nike executive will be exiting the company. John Hoke, the company's chief innovation officer and a 30-plus year Nike veteran, will be retiring. More from WWD Nike Is Bringing Its Wavy Patta Air Max Collaboration to a New Sneaker Charles Barkley's Most Popular Sneaker Is Getting a Nike SB Upgrade Nike and Lego Are Launching Studded Sneakers, Sneaker Block Sets and a Legoland Space The handwriting was on the wall, however. Hoke's departure follows a move made earlier this month promoting Phil McCartney to chief innovation, design and product officer. At the same time, Heidi O'Neill, president of consumer, product and brand — who had been with the company for 26 years — also revealed her retirement. Amy Montagne, a 20-year Nike employee, was promoted to president of the Nike brand. The moves are part of new Nike chief executive officer Elliott Hill's 'Win Now' action plan first unveiled last December. In the company's third-quarter earnings call in March, Hill, who was lured out of retirement to rejoin the company in the top post in October, was vocal about how Nike needs to be more innovative and also reduce the amount of product available in the market. During the call, he said Nike's new priorities will be centered around five fields of play: running, basketball, football, training and sportswear; three countries: the U.S., China and the U.K., and five cities: New York, Los Angeles, London, Beijing and Shanghai. While that work is going on internally, the company revealed last week that it plans to return to Amazon after a six-year hiatus and raise prices from $2 to $10 on apparel and $5 on footwear in response to tariffs. The return to Amazon is a sharp contrast to former CEO John Donahoe's strategy to cut wholesale distribution and focus on its own stores and digital channels. In addition to Amazon, Nike is returning to DSW, Macy's, Foot Locker, Urban Outfitters, Zappos, Belk and others. As Hill said in December: 'Wholesale….provides a very strong footprint, both physical as well as digital.' These major moves are an answer to criticism that Nike had lost its edge as competitors such as Hoka and On made inroads, particularly in the footwear space. While the company is making some progress, there's still a lot of work to do. Net income in the third quarter was $794 million, down 32 percent from $1.2 billion in the year-ago period. Diluted earnings per share were 54 cents, a decrease of 30 percent from 77 cents at the same time last year. Net sales in the period were $11.3 billion, down 9 percent from $12.4 billion, on a reported basis, compared to the prior year. The company also projected at that time to expect a steeper-than-expected drop in fourth-quarter sales. A Nike spokesperson confirmed Hoke's retirement Thursday but declined further comment. Hoke grew up playing sports and running cross country, where he noticed that all the racers wore Nike waffle trainers. He went home and sketched those sneakers — Hoke has dyslexia so he used drawing as a way to navigate the world — and began to envision how they could be better. He came up with the idea of adding cushioning to the shoe, a sketch he sent to Nike cofounder and former CEO Phil Knight. Knight responded, saying it was an intriguing idea and Hoke should consider joining Nike when he got older. After getting a degree in architecture, Hoke did just that — he joined Nike in 1992. Initially, he worked on image and brand design at trade shows, global exhibits and the Nike stores and he also created the first website as well as physical and digital catalogs. Among his roles at Nike were eight years as vice president of footwear design, two years at Converse and 15 years as Nike's chief design officer. He was elevated to chief innovation officer in 2023. Hoke will remain with Nike until October to complete some projects and the company plans to announce a successor for the chief innovation officer role, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg. Best of WWD All the Retailers That Nike Left and Then Went Back Mikey Madison's Elegant Red Carpet Shoe Style [PHOTOS] Julia Fox's Sleekest and Boldest Shoe Looks Over the Years [Photos]
Fast Company
3 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
Nike design leader John Hoke is leaving the company that was his ‘destiny'
John Hoke, a 33-year Nike veteran who served as the company's chief innovation officer, is retiring. The news comes during a difficult time for the company. While it's still the largest sportswear manufacturer with $51 billion in revenue a year, it has lost street cred and running market share under former CEO John Donahoe. Wall Street believes it's not growing fast enough. Beloved Nike veteran Elliott Hill replaced Donahoe as CEO last year, who rightly warned the turnaround would not happen overnight. Hill informed the Nike staff that Hoke was leaving in a memo sent around the company this week. I've spoken to Hoke several times over the years, most recently in 2024 for our profile on the company's Olympic strategy under John Donahoe. Hoke's enthusiasm was that of a kid in a candy store, as he was eager to show off the company's new partnership with Hyperice and its use of AI tools to make some of the wildest Nikes I've ever seen. Hoke believed deeply in the technological innovations behind sport, which made him a good fit for shifting to the job of chief innovation officer in 2022 from his role as chief design officer for 15 years. And while some of the products launched in his time—like self-tying Adapt BB sneakers —were never articulated enough to scale, his long-view vision of Nike was always inspiring. He imagined our clothing becoming empathetic, symbiotic, and even biological— literally feeling our pain to be ever-changing to our needs moment to moment. Hoke has long viewed his own time at Nike as 'destiny.' At age 12, he imagined the performance benefits of sticking his inflatable pool raft to the bottom of a shoe. That led him to discover Phil Knight and write him a letter. Knight responded, inviting him to come work at the company when he was older. After graduating from studies in industrial design and architecture and giving a presentation where he discussed Nike Town, Hoke was invited to Nike for a job interview. 'I brought that letter in the back of my portfolio. I pulled the letter out, and I said, 'I'm here to redeem the coupon you sent me in the late '70s,'' Hoke recalled. The person he said that to? Mark Parker, who ended up taking over the company as its most beloved designer-CEO. 'I pinch myself, like I've been . . . loving this brand, and thinking about sneakers, and how to make sneakers perform better, and how to make sneakers more magnetic more powerful, for most of my life.' Phil McCartney, EVP and chief innovation, design & product officer at Nike, will be taking over Hoke's duties. Meanwhile, Hoke will be at Nike through October wrapping up projects. He did not immediately respond for comment.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Now the Time to Buy This S&P 500 Stock That's Down 66% and Hold for 20 Years?
Effects from previous strategic blunders helped drive sales and net income 9% and 32% lower in Q3, respectively. Management's focus is on clearing out older inventory, emphasizing the brand's strength, and introducing in-demand products. Shares look extremely undervalued, but a successful turnaround could take time. These 10 stocks could mint the next wave of millionaires › After a volatile start to the year, the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) has come roaring back. It's up 8% just in the past month, slowly approaching its peak. But not all businesses are benefiting from renewed bullish fever on Wall Street. As of May 23, one well-known consumer discretionary stock is trading a gut-wrenching 66% below its all-time record, established in November 2021. There's a lot of pessimism, but maybe it's time to take a closer look at this company as a potential 20-year holding. The business whose shares have fallen off a cliff is none other than Nike (NYSE: NKE). The sportswear giant has had a difficult run in recent years. The previous management team, led by then-CEO John Donahoe, was all in on going digital and direct-to-consumer. This backfired with wholesale accounts, leading to greater visibility for rival products. Nike's sales in Q3 2025 (ended March 20) were down 9% year over year. And the expectation is for the top line to drop to the low end of the mid-teens range in the fourth quarter. A lack of product innovation has also added to the issues. CEO Elliott Hill is trying to fix these problems. One of the top priorities is to start introducing footwear that gets consumers excited. On the distribution front, it's about meeting customers where they are. Nike just announced it will begin selling products on Amazon. But first, Nike must move past its challenges. This means getting rid of old inventory. To do this, the business has offered excess promotions and markdowns. That's why the gross margin shrunk from 44.8% in the year-ago period to 41.5% in Q3. "We expect these actions will continue through the first half of fiscal 2026," Nike CFO Matt Friend said on the earnings call when discussing the outlook of cleaning out stale inventory. The good news is that revenue and gross margin trends should start to improve. Nike's ongoing challenges, coupled with the success of competitors, have led to declining market share. According to GlobalData, the business had 14.1% market share of the global sportswear industry in 2024, down from 15.2% the year before. Nonetheless, Nike is still the clear leader. Hill and his team must focus on the fact that it remains the top dog in the industry. This means emphasizing the brand, the key asset that supports the company's economic moat. In the fashion industry, it can be difficult to find lasting success. Businesses must always try to figure out how consumer tastes are changing and then deliver on these needs. For what it's worth, Nike's brand has stood the test of time. It helps that the company partners with top athletes and sports leagues. This raises its credibility on a worldwide stage. What's more, Nike's $48 billion trailing-12-month revenue base means it has greater financial resources than any other competitor to continue investing in marketing efforts and research and development initiatives. With sales and earnings tanking, the market has soured on the business. Consequently, shares trade at a historically cheap valuation. The current price-to-earnings ratio of 19.9 is near the trailing-10-year low, highlighting extreme investor pessimism. However, I think only patient investors comfortable with uncertainty should consider buying the stock. Ongoing economic fears, coupled with the dynamic tariff situation, create new headwinds Nike must navigate. A successful turnaround could take longer than expected. But if you're bullish on the durability of the brand, as well as Nike's ability to create in-demand products, tell compelling marketing stories, and eventually get back to revenue and profit growth, this could work out to be a solid investment opportunity over the next two decades. Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you'll want to hear this. On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a 'Double Down' stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you're worried you've already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it's too late. And the numbers speak for themselves: Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you'd have $351,386!* Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you'd have $38,008!* Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you'd have $653,389!* Right now, we're issuing 'Double Down' alerts for three incredible companies, available when you join , and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.*Stock Advisor returns as of May 19, 2025 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Nike. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is Now the Time to Buy This S&P 500 Stock That's Down 66% and Hold for 20 Years? was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
