Nike brought back a 32-year veteran to save the $60B brand. Two years later, its turnaround is still a ‘long, hard slog’

The news traveled quickly across Nike’s sprawling headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.

Elliott Hill was coming back.

Employees high-fived.

An audible cheer could be heard in parts of Nike’s 400-acre campus.

Current and former employees lit up group chats and social media.

On Wall Street, investors joined the celebration, sending Nike shares up roughly 8% in after-hours trading following the company’s September 2024 announcement that Hill would come out of retirement to replace John Donahoe as chief executive.

The exuberance reflected more than relief that Donahoe was leaving.

Hill’s return carried an almost messianic quality inside a company that had spent several years watching its innovation pipeline sputter, relationships with retailers deteriorate, and its once-untouchable cultural standing erode.

Nike was reaching into its own past for someone who seemed uniquely equipped to restore what it had lost.

Hill had spent over 32 years at Nike, rising from an intern in 1988 through sales and leadership positions across North America and Europe before eventually becoming president of consumer and marketplace.

By the time he retired in 2020, Nike credited him with helping grow the business to some $39 billion.

The appeal to Nike’s board was obvious.

It was buying a turnaround CEO and, just as importantly, buying time.

Hill would not have to spend his first year learning the company he had been hired to save.