TCU
From left, TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini, Elliott Hill, and TCU Trustee Kenny Thompson in New York for the occasion of TCU ringing the Stock Exchange Bell in 2022.
Elliott Hill’s career at Nike spanned 32 years, culminating in his stepping down in 2020 from his role as president of Consumer and Marketplace, where he led the company’s strategy around consumer engagement, sales, and market growth.
His promotion to executive was the crescendo of a journey that began as an intern in graduate school.
As it turns out, that was not the end, but merely the end of the beginning.
On Friday, the Nike board of directors rehired Hill as the company’s president and CEO, succeeding John Donahoe, who stepped down after more than four years of trying to navigate choppy waters.
Hill will assume his new position on Oct. 14.
Donahoe had led Nike’s transformation to a direct-to-consumer approach to sales while significantly cutting out wholesalers. While doing so, the company sacrificed shelves to competitors who took advantage to cut into market share.
As of last week, Nike’s stock was down more than 25% this year.
“Nike has always been a core part of who I am, and I’m ready to help lead it to an even brighter future,” Hill said in a statement. “For 32 years, I’ve had the privilege of working with the best in the industry, helping to shape our company into the magical place it is today.”
The board cited Hill’s “global expertise, leadership style, and deep understand of our industry and partners” in the decision to bring him back.
“I’m eager to reconnect with the many employees and trusted partners I’ve worked with over the years, and just as excited to build new, impactful relationships that will move us ahead,” Hill said. “Together with our talented teams, I look forward to delivering bold, innovative products that set us apart in the marketplace and captivate consumers for years to come.”
This story all begins at TCU.
Hill is a 1986 graduate of the university and since 2013 has been a member of the school’s board of trustees, including a stint as a member of the executive committee. He has had to step down from the executive committee to make room for the demands his new job will create.
“He is one of the few people I know who scores 100% on both IQ and EQ [Emotional Quotient, which measures emotional intelligence]. He totally gets that it's all about people, no matter what you do,” said TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini. “And I love that. He is super smart, and lots of times he's the smartest person in the room, but he never has to rely on that because he knows he can use his people skills instead, and that always gets a better result.”
Boschini called Hill a transformative leader who thinks boldly.
“He is the kind of person who I would ask him for help on a project,” Boschini said. “I would say, ‘I need a building.’ And two days later, he'd come back to me with a skyscraper and needs no advice in between and did four times better than I even thought I would do.”
Not surprisingly, due to the connection, TCU athletics apparel is supplied by Nike-branded products.
The school called Hill and his wife Gina “great partners on the academic side as well as athletics.”
“Elliott is a visionary whose leadership has had an immeasurable influence on TCU. As chairman of the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee of our Board of Trustees, he has been a mentor to our student-athletes and a trusted friend to me, coaches and so many others in our athletics program,” said Jeremiah Donati, TCU’s director of athletics. “Through his previous work with Nike, Elliott was instrumental in growing the TCU brand globally. We congratulate Elliott and know his impact on our student-athletes and their TCU experience will continue for years to come.”
Hill has lectured in the Neeley School of Business, Boschini noted, and he once also hosted a trip of 42 students, five faculty, and Boschini to the Nike campus in Portland.
“It was incredible,” Boschini said. “These kids got a firsthand lesson on everything — the culture, how they make the products, how they advertise their products. It was really incredible.”
After graduating TCU with a degree in kinesiology in 1986, Hill went to work for the Dallas Cowboys as an assistant athletic trainer, according to his LinkedIn bio.
He earned a master’s in sports administration from Ohio University in 1988. It was while there that he began his career with Nike as an intern.
He first became interested in the company while writing a paper about it in graduate school, he said in a 2020 interview with Motus Recruiting. In the same interview, he emphasized the importance of staying curious and knowing the right time to take a risk.
“I’m always a really thoughtful person when it comes to making a huge decision around my life and making a move. Maybe too logical. Like most people, you weigh the pros and the cons. Even though sometimes the cons might outweigh the decision to go. I’ve said ‘yes’ because I liked the newness and freshness and I’m a very curious person.
“So, I’ve often said ‘yes’ just because I like going to meet new people to experience new things, to learn new things. And I think that’s helped keep me fresh and alive as a human being and as a leader. Be thoughtful, logical about the decision, but challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone and to be curious, and I think being curious leads us to greater and greater things as a human being and as a teammate. And ultimately as a leader.”