Nike 2009 Annual Report Download - page 19

The sale of a large number of shares held by our Chairman could depress the market price of our common
stock.
Philip H. Knight, Co-founder and Chairman of our Board of Directors, beneficially owns over 96% of our
Class A Common Stock. If all of his Class A Common Stock were converted into Class B Common Stock,
Mr. Knight would own over 19% of our Class B Common Stock. These shares are available for resale, subject to
the requirements of the U.S. securities laws. The sale or prospect of the sale of a substantial number of these
shares could have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.
Anti-takeover provisions may impair an acquisition of the Company or reduce the price of our common stock.
There are provisions of our articles of incorporation and Oregon law that are intended to protect shareholder
interests by providing the Board of Directors a means to attempt to deny coercive takeover attempts or to
negotiate with a potential acquirer in order to obtain more favorable terms. Such provisions include a control
share acquisition statute, a freezeout statute, two classes of stock that vote separately on certain issues, and the
fact holders of Class A Common Stock shares elect three-fourths of the Board of Directors rounded down to the
next whole number. However, such provisions could discourage, delay or prevent an unsolicited merger,
acquisition or other change in control of our company that some shareholders might believe to be in their best
interests or in which shareholders might receive a premium for their common stock over the prevailing market
price. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests for control of the Company.
We may fail to meet analyst expectations, which could cause the price of our stock to decline.
Our common stock is traded publicly, and at any given time various securities analysts follow our financial
results and issue reports on us. These reports include information about our historical financial results as well as
the analysts’ estimates of our future performance. The analysts’ estimates are based upon their own opinions and
are often different from our estimates or expectations. If our operating results are below the estimates or
expectations of public market analysts and investors, our stock price could decline. In the past, securities class
action litigation has been brought against NIKE and other companies following a decline in the market price of
their securities. If our stock price is volatile, we may become involved in this type of litigation in the future. Any
litigation could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources that are
needed to successfully run our business.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
Not applicable.
Item 2. Properties
The following is a summary of principal properties owned or leased by NIKE.
The NIKE World Campus, owned by NIKE and located in Beaverton, Oregon, USA, is a 176 acre facility of
18 buildings which functions as our world headquarters and is occupied by almost 5,700 employees engaged in
management, research, design, development, marketing, finance, and other administrative functions from nearly
all of our divisions. We also lease various office facilities in the surrounding metropolitan area. We lease a
similar, but smaller, administrative facility in Hilversum, the Netherlands, which serves as the headquarters for
the EMEA Region.
There are three significant distribution and customer service facilities for NIKE brand products in the
United States. All three of them are located in Memphis, Tennessee, one of which is leased. Cole Haan also
operates a distribution facility in Greenland, New Hampshire, which we lease. Smaller leased distribution
facilities for other brands and non-NIKE brand businesses are located in various parts of the United States. We
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