Nike Founder Phil Knight Announces Historic $2 Billion Donation originally appeared on The Spun.
Phil Knight, the co-founder and chairman of Nike, made a record-breaking donation this week that should make plenty of people smile.
Knight and his wife, Penny, gifted $2 billion to the Oregon Health & Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute. According to Thursday's press release, the plan is to invest in "cancer research, diagnosis, treatment, care, and some day, eradication."
The Knight family's $2 billion investment will go down as the largest donation a U.S. educational institution has ever received.
"This gift is an unprecedented investment in the millions of lives burdened with cancer, especially patients and families here in Oregon," OHSU President Shereef Elnahal said. "It is also a signal of trust in the superlative work that our clinicians, researchers and teammates at the Knight Cancer Institute do every day. Dr. Druker’s vision around a multidisciplinary system of care — focused squarely on making the patient’s experience seamless from the moment they receive a diagnosis — will now become reality. And thanks to the extraordinary generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Knight, Oregon will be the place to do it."
Phil and Penny have worked with Brian Druker and the Knight Cancer Institute’s team in the past, so they clearly felt confident giving them $2 billion.
"Penny and Phil Knight have always challenged us to do what no one else is doing," Dr. Druker said. "It can seem impossible to navigate the health care system after being diagnosed with cancer. We’re going to change that. We have revolutionized the way we detect and treat cancer. Now we are going to transform the way we care for patients while continuing to develop innovative treatments."
Hopefully, this groundbreaking donation from the Knight family will be a game-changer for cancer research around the world.
Nike Founder Phil Knight Announces Historic $2 Billion Donation first appeared on The Spun on Aug 14, 2025
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Aug 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
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