Douglas Houser, an attorney who incorporated Nike and served on the company’s Board of Directors for 50 years, passed away at the age of 89.
Houser, a cousin of Nike co-founder Phil Knight, retired from Nike’s board in 2015. For Nike, he is credited with steering the brand through a critical lawsuit in the early seventies against Onitsuka Co. Ltd., which would become Asics, over the rights to distribute Onitsuka Tiger.
At that point in the brand’s history, Nike was still called Blue Ribbon Sports with revenues at about $3 million in shoes a year, according to the Oregonian. Central to the case was the Cortez, a shoe designed by Nike’s other co-founder Bill Bowerman that was being sold by both Onitsuka and Blue Ribbon Sports at the time. A judge eventually allowed both firms to sell the shoes, but Nike retained the Cortez name.
Renowned for his expertise in insurance law, Houser’s legal career spanned nearly six decades at the Portland, OR offices of the firm that would become Bullivant Houser Bailey PC.
