Nike Co-Founder Phil Knight Has Disposed of $3.1 Billion in NKE Stock Across 13,182 Transactions

Alex Rivera

Phil Knight's insider filing record spans 13,182 transactions since 2003 — the highest transaction count of any single insider in our database. Recent activity shows Class B to Class A conversions and gifts, not direct sales.

Phil Knight, co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike (NKE), has filed 13,182 insider transactions since 2003 — the highest individual transaction count we track. His career dispositions total $3.1 billion, yet his recent filings tell a different story: no open-market sales since October 2020, with recent activity dominated by Class B to Class A share conversions and billion-dollar charitable gifts.

The Numbers

Metric Value
Career Sell Value $3.1 billion
Total Transactions 13,182
First Transaction Aug 15, 2003
Last Transaction Feb 2, 2026
Shares Remaining 27,479,487
Career Buy Value $0

Recent Activity

Date Type Shares Price Est. Value
Feb 2, 2026 Conversion 4,500,000
Feb 2, 2026 Conversion 4,500,000
Dec 29, 2025 Transfer 4,500,000
Jul 9, 2024 Transfer 3,600,000
Jan 13, 2023 Gift 5,000,000 ~$625M
Oct 2, 2020 Sell 800,000 $125.31 $100.2M

Knight's most recent filing from February 2026 shows the conversion of 9 million Class B shares into Class A shares across two separate transactions. This follows a December 2025 transfer of 4.5 million shares and a massive 5-million-share gift in January 2023 worth approximately $625 million at the time. His last actual open-market sell was in October 2020: 800,000 shares at $125.31 for $100 million. He has not sold a single share on the open market in over five years.

What It Means

Despite the $3.1 billion career sell figure, Knight's 13,182 transactions are heavily skewed toward share class conversions, gifts, and transfers — not profit-taking. The majority of his filing volume comes from Nike's dual-class share structure, where Class B shares (10 votes each) convert to Class A (1 vote) upon transfer. Knight originally held a massive Class B stake that gave him majority voting control; the ongoing conversions suggest a gradual transition of his holdings into more liquid Class A shares, likely for estate planning and philanthropic purposes through the Knight Foundation. With 27.5 million shares remaining (worth approximately $2.2 billion at current NKE prices around $80), Knight still has one of the largest founder stakes in U.S. corporate history — though it's a far cry from the 100+ million shares he once controlled.

What to Watch

  • Whether Knight resumes open-market sales after a five-year hiatus, which would be a significant sentiment signal given NKE's decline from $175+ to ~$80
  • The pace of Class B-to-A conversions — accelerating conversions often precede larger dispositions or gifts
  • Nike's turnaround efforts under CEO Elliott Hill and whether improving fundamentals prompt any change in Knight's filing pattern
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