Phil Knight Gives Nike Stock Worth Nearly $1 Billion to an Unnamed Nonprofit

Nike co-founder Phil Knight gave 12 million shares of Nike stock valued at $990 million to an unnamed charity on Wednesday, according to a financial document the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The document states that Knight and his wife, Penelope, are directors of the charity.

It is likely the money was funneled into the couple’s Knight Foundation, which lists them as directors on its most recent tax filings. The foundation’s address is included on the filings as One Bowerman Drive, in Beaverton, Ore., the same address as Nike’s world headquarters.

The purpose of the donation is unclear, but the Knights previously have given or pledged a total of more than $1.8 billion to nonprofits since 2006. In 2016 they pledged $500 million to the University of Oregon to create the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact and $400 million to Stanford for graduate scholarships, landing the No. 1 spot on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of big donors, the sixth time they have been on the list.

They pledged $500 million in 2013 to Oregon Health & Science University for the Knight Cancer Institute and $125 million in 2012 to that same university to launch the Knight Cardiovascular Institute.

If this latest infusion of stock went into the Knights’ foundation, the couple could use it to pay off pledges made to those institutions in previous years or they could have plans to use the money for a new and as yet unannounced big gift.

Phil Knight could not be reached for comment about the donation.