President and CEO
Mark Parker (born October 21, 1955, in Poughkeepsie, New York) is the CEO of Nike, Inc., and was appointed as the company’s third chief executive officer in 2006.
Parker joined Nike in 1979 as a footwear designer based at its R&D facilities in Exeter, New Hampshire. He became divisional vice president in charge of development in 1987, corporate vice president in 1989, general manager in 1993, and vice president of global footwear in 1998. Before becoming Nike’s CEO, he served as co-president (alongside Charlie Denson) of the Nike brand from March 2001. He remains involved in footwear design, particularly with the Nike HTM project, creating limited-edition shoes together with Nike designer Tinker Hatfield and creative consultant Hiroshi Fujiwara. He has committed to ensuring Nike remains environmentally conscious. After 10 years of work, Parker and his team launched the first “green shoe” adhering to sustainability principles. He is also responsible for other brands in Nike’s portfolio, including Converse Inc. and Hurley International.
While serving as CEO of Nike in 2012, Mark G. Parker earned total compensation of $15,425,608, which included a base salary of $1,609,615, a cash bonus of $594,190, granted stock worth $3,500,087, granted options worth $4,199,250, and non-equity incentive plan compensation listed at $5,522,466. Upon his promotion, his salary was set to increase by 25%.
In 2015, Mark Parker was named Fortune’s Businessperson of the Year.
It was announced in June 2015 that Mark Parker would succeed Phil Knight as chairman of Nike in 2016. Trevor Edwards, then president of the Nike brand, would serve as CEO.