Nike has only had four chief executive officers. Elliott Hill will soon become the athletic giant’s fifth.
Hill, a company veteran of 32 years, was announced Thursday as the successor of John Donahoe, who has retired from his role as Nike Inc. president and chief executive officer. Hill will assume the role, effective Oct. 14, and will also become a director of the Nike Inc. board of directors and the executive committee.
Insiders believe Hill is the person Nike needs to lead the way.
“Elliott is absolutely the best choice for this position, and I’m so happy to see the brand make the right decision and put him in the job,” Matt Powell, advisor at Spurwink River and senior advisor at BCE Consulting, told FN. “He has all the qualities that are necessary to help the brand turn around. He has deep experience, both U.S. and global., he understands the culture, he knows of the retailers.”
In a note published Thursday, Williams Trading analyst Sam Poser agreed. “Today’s announcement that Elliott Hill, a [32]-year veteran of Nike who was retired in 2020, would return as President and CEO effective October 14th, and John Donahoe will be stepping down on October 13th is very positive, brings back needed institutional knowledge, and is a long time coming.”
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Hill joined the company in 1988, according to his LinkedIn, as an apparel sales representative intern, and would go on to hold several leadership positions over 32 years before retiring from Nike Inc. in 2020. Nike stated he was responsible for helping the business grow to more than $39 billion.
He last served as its president of consumer and marketplace. In the role, Nike stated Hill was responsible for leading all commercial and marketing operations for Nike and Jordan Brand, including the P&L across the company’s four geographies.
Powell said he was surprised in January 2020 when Nike gave control of the company to Donahoe with Mark Parker resigning instead of Hill. Now at the helm, the industry expert believes Hill has his work cut out for him, but will be able to right the ship.
“In the short term, I don’t see any immediate impact. In fact, I expect that they will come out and revise guidance down even further because the right things to do will require them to do less business in the short term,” Powell said. “For instance, they need to take Jordan 1 and Air Force 1 and Dunk out of the market for a period of time. They need to go dark on those programs in order to save them. That means they will do substantially less business. They need to be less promotional on Nike.com. That means they will do substantially less business in the short term. There’s more pain to come here, frankly, not because he’s not competent. Because doing the right thing will require more pain.”
Powell continued, “Long term, this is exactly the right person to fix Nike. It won’t be a quick fix, as much as I respect Elliott, it will take some time for them to fix this thing — but he will fix it.”
Poser, in Thursday’s note, agreed.
“We do not believe a major directional change for the business is imminent. It will be 15-18 months at the minimum, now that a new CEO is in place, until true product and brand evolution would be realized, leaving us at spring 2026,” the note read. “Although, we do believe that the mojo on the Nike campus and throughout the organization will be palpable tomorrow morning. Ex-Nike employees with whom we’re spoken, and senior executives at large retailers have nothing but positive things to say about Elliot Hill.
Donahoe’s departure from Nike comes after criticism mounted from insiders and consumers alike. Losing its market share in key categories to competitors, such as running, has led to much scrutiny, as well as the company’s perceived lack of innovation. What’s more, Nike announced a new round of layoffs in December 2023 that have been taking effect this year.
“As I understood it, he had a five year contract, which expires in January, so the end was probably coming anyway,” Powell said of the timing of Donahoe’s retirement from Nike. “They’ve got an investor day coming up, so I think this is probably the right time. The drum beat in the press has just consistently got worse and worse.”
Sneaker experts, too, believe the time was right to move on from Donahoe.
“John Donohue, though a qualified leader and executive, hasn’t been able to deliver the sort of innovation and brand energy that has been a constant with Nike for their entire history,” said TV host and content creator Jacques Slade. “Some of the decisions that he made backfired in the most recent few years and investor and consumer, and most importantly, employee confidence in his role as CEO were waning. He unfortunately, had big shoes to fill following in the footsteps of Phil Knight and Mark Parker. Without having the sort of brand history and allegiance that come with being a part of the company in more than just an executive role, it left him in a losing battle.”
David “Kari” Daniels, who offers commentary on sneakers across social media channels, added, “Nike tapping a veteran like him tells me the company is aware of its headwinds and is choosing to right-side their challenges by going back to what got Nike to the position they were in prior to Donahoe: a powerful marketing company that sold some of the best athletic footwear and apparel in the world.”
Donahoe will retire effective Oct. 13, and Nike said he will remain as an advisor to the company to ensure a smooth transition through Jan. 31, 2025.
“I would like to thank John for his contributions to Nike as president and CEO, and as a board member,” Parker, executive chairman of Nike Inc., said in a statement. “I would particularly like to recognize the role he played in leading the company during the COVID pandemic and his unwavering support for the investments Nike has made in our communities around the world.”
