Per a pre-recorded interview on CBS Sunday Morning, former Nike CEO Phil Knight has made it clear that he has special plans for his $25 billion in net worth. The co-founder and current chairman of the Swoosh brand claims that he's going to be giving the overwhelming majority of his fortune away to charity. In that interview, Knight said, "By the time, you know, the lives of my children and their kids run out, I will have given most of it to chairty."
No stranger to philanthropy, Knight has quite the reputation for donating obscene amounts of money to several causes. In February, he donated $400 million to Stanford University, where he earned his MBA. That's also the largest donation the institution has ever received, followed by prior 2006 donation of $105 million from Knight. Just last year, Knight made more news when he gave $500 million to the Oregon Health and Science University to fund cancer research. Knight, who happens to be listed as #33 on Bloomberg's list of "50 Top American Givers," actually started the institute in OHSU that will be doing this research.
After stepping down as CEO of Nike back in 2015, it's this sort of philanthropic work that seems to have kept Knight busy. Taking into account the huge donations that he's already made, it wont be too difficult to imagine that the Oregon entrepreneur will likely reach his charitable goal.
For some more on Knight's background both pre and post Nike, you can see the interview in its entirety when it airs on April 24th, on this weekend's edition of CBS Sunday Morning. You can also check out his upcoming memoire, Shoe Dog, due out on April 26th.
