Nike paid $104 million to CEO Donahoe before he was ousted

Nike Inc. spent nearly $104 million on pay and benefits for John Donahoe during his near five-year tenure atop the sneaker-maker, before replacing the former Bain & Co. executive in a bid to revive the brand.

During that time, Nike lost nearly $40 billion in market value.

Donahoe collected $83.6 million from salary, bonuses and shares granted to him, according to calculations by Bloomberg News based on regulatory filings. 

While the haul isn’t unusual for a chief of a high-profile publicly traded business, it serves as a reminder of how bosses can collect astronomical sums even during controversial runs that end with their ouster. It reached such a level for Donahoe partly because Nike gave him equity awards worth $35 million to replace pay he forfeited when resigning from his former employer.

Nike announced Thursday that Donahoe will retire and remain an adviser through January, capping a run that had seen the business soar during the pandemic before struggling with falling sales and customer defections to upstart brands such as On and Hoka. He’ll be replaced by Nike veteran Elliott Hill, who’ll come out of retirement to take the job.

Nike’s shares jumped 8% in premarket trading.

Donahoe’s figure doesn’t account for income or capital gains taxes he may have paid. The departure will result in his forfeiting unvested equity awards worth more than $5 million.

Hill will receive an annual pay package worth about $20 million, mostly consisting of stock options and shares tied to performance targets, a filing shows. He’ll also get $7 million of special awards, paid in cash and stock.

If Hill turns Nike around and the shares bounce back, Donahoe will benefit. He still holds more than 1.5 million stock options that will yield a return if the company’s stock price rises above the thresholds to exercise them, which range from $97.61 to $167.51.