Nike Inc. is the world’s biggest athletic wear company. It is an American multinational corporation that designs, develops and manufactures a wide array of sporting apparel and equipment that is marketed worldwide. The company was founded in 1964 by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight as Blue Ribbon Sports.. It officially became Nike Inc. on May 30, 1971. Headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, Nike is one of the most valuable brands in the world, employing some 76,000 people around the globe. It markets its goods through the Nike brand, as well as its Jordan Brand and Converse subsidiaries. The company regularly features in the top 100 of the Fortune 500 list of the largest US corporations by total revenue.