Founded by a university track athlete Phil Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman in 1964, Nike Inc., an American multinational corporation, is the world’s largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel. Here are some interesting and lesser known facts about Nike.
Unknown facts about Nike
1) Nike was started when founder Phil Knight was working on one of his college assignments. Knight worked on a business plan about creating better running shoes with cheap labor, probably from Japan. With the idea, Phil Knight, along with Bill Bowerman, started importing Japanese shoes to America and started selling them to high school students and athletes.
2) The Company was initially named Blue Ribbon Sports and was a distributor of Japanese shoemaker Onitsuka Tiger. After it ended its relationship with Onitsuka Tiger, it was renamed Nike, after the Greek Goddess of Victory. Before choosing the name Nike, the Company was almost named Dimension Six, before the founders changed their mind.
3) Nike’s famous slogan “Just Do It” was inspired by an unusual source. The advertising agency which created the slogan, credited the last words of a convicted murderer Gary Gilmore’s, “Let’s do it,” as the inspiration behind Nike’s world famous tagline.
4) Nike’s logo Swoosh was initially called Stripey. The logo was designed by a University of Portland student for just $ 35. After the Company became successful, the student was given stakes worth $ 640,000 in Nike.
5) In the 1987 advertisement for Nike’s Air Max shoes, the Company used The Beatles’ song Revolution for their campaign. This did not sit well with The Beatles and they sued Nike for $ 15 million.
6) Tinker Hatfield, Nike’s shoe designer and Vice President for Design and Special Projects, also designed the hoverboarding shoes worn by Michael J. Fox’s character Marty McFly in Back to the Future Part II.
7) Nike created and patented a shoe which has an embedded computing device capable of communicating with the wearer’s smartphone.
8) Known for its unique advertising campaigns, Nike has won two Emmy Awards for its commercials in 2000 and 2002 respectively.
Even after 55 years of its founding, Nike still remains one of the top brands in the world, with an annual revenue of $ 36.39 billion. Which of these facts about Nike surprised you the most? Comment below and let us know.
Meta is developing its first true AR glasses, set to launch in 2027. Before the public release, employees will test the device starting in 2024. The company is also releasing new generations of Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2023 and 2025 with enhanced features like a “viewfinder” display.
Specifications and Features
The AR glasses are expected to feature OLED displays and Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets, offering sophisticated AR and AI capabilities. They will enable users to interact with virtual objects and project high-quality holograms of avatars onto the real world.
Design and Competition
Meta aims for a sleek design, potentially building on its Ray-Ban partnerships. The AR glasses market is competitive, with Apple and Google also investing heavily. Meta seeks to make its AR glasses a game-changer by offering a unique user experience.
Future Plans
In addition to AR glasses, Meta is expanding its VR offerings with new headsets like the Quest 3 and exploring other wearable technologies. The company is focused on reducing costs to make the AR glasses more consumer-friendly by launch.
MobiKwik is venturing into the stock broking sector with the launch of its subsidiary, MobiKwik Securities Broking Private Limited (MSBPL), following approval from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on March 3, 2025. This move aims to diversify MobiKwik’s offerings beyond its core digital payments services and compete with established players like Zerodha and Groww.
MSBPL will provide a range of brokerage services, including trading in shares, securities, commodities, and derivatives. The subsidiary has an initial capital of Rs 1 lakh, with plans for an additional Rs 2 crore investment to support its operations.
As MobiKwik enters this competitive market, it brings a substantial user base of 172 million and a merchant network of 5 million. Despite recent financial challenges, including a reported loss of Rs 55.2 crore in Q3 FY25, the company aims to leverage its existing infrastructure and user engagement to capture a share of the growing investment technology market, projected to reach $74 billion by 2030.
This strategic expansion aligns with MobiKwik’s broader goals of enhancing its financial service
Nazara Technologies has sold its entire 71.54% stake in Sports Unity Private Limited, the company behind the multiplayer quiz game ‘Qunami’, for INR 7.15 lakh. This divestment, effective March 25, 2025, signifies a strategic shift for Nazara, which had previously acquired a controlling interest in Sports Unity in 2019 for INR 7.5 crore.
The decision to offload the stake comes as Sports Unity has faced financial difficulties, reporting no active business operations and a negative net worth of INR 0.45 crore at the end of FY24. This move aligns with Nazara’s broader strategy to streamline its operations and concentrate on more profitable ventures within the gaming sector.
This sale follows Nazara’s recent divestment of a 94.85% stake in another subsidiary, Open Play, to Moonshine Technologies for INR 104.33 crore. Despite reporting record quarterly revenue of INR 544.7 crore in Q3 FY25, Nazara experienced a 53.5% decline in net profit year-over-year.
Nazara continues to focus on enhancing its portfolio through strategic acquisitions and investments in high-potential gaming platforms while navigating the competitive landscape of the gaming industry.