"I'm encouraged to see an insider return to the CEO role," Jim Duffy, a Nike analyst for Stifel Institutional, told Business Insider. "I think where Nike went wrong in recent years was losing focus on what has made the company great for so many years, which is innovating and designing really cool products and telling marketing stories that gets the consumer excited about those products."
Nike made a bold bet in 2020 by turning to Donahoe, a tech CEO, to lead the 56-year-old company into the future. The last time Nike hired an outsider was William Perez, who left the company only after a year due to disagreements with Nike cofounder Phil Knight."
Donahoe helped shift the company toward a digital and direct-to-consumer model at a pivotal time when brick-and-mortar stores were closed due to the pandemic, Duffy said. The outgoing CEO also capitalized on the consumer demand for retro styles, including Air Force Ones, Nike Dunks, and Air Jordan 1s, the shoe worn by legendary NBA player Michael Jordan.
Under his helm, Donahoe grew the company's annual sales by more than a third, from $37 billion in 2020 to more than $51 billion in 2023.
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