The announcement came hours after Under Armour's Kevin Plank resigned as CEO. Nike's Parker will be replaced by ServiceNow's John Donahoe early next year
Nike said Tuesday that its chief executive, Mark Parker, who led the company through a period of tremendous growth but also saw his leadership challenged by a number of controversies, would step down early next year.
He will be replaced by John Donahoe, a member of Nike’s board and the chief executive of ServiceNow, a cloud computing company. Previously, he was the chief executive of eBay.
Nike said Parker would become executive chairman of the company Jan. 13, leading the board and working closely with Donohoe and the senior management team.
“I am delighted John will join our team,” Parker said in a statement released by the company. “His expertise in digital commerce, technology, global strategy and leadership combined with his strong relationship with the brand, make him ideally suited to accelerate our digital transformation.”
The news that Parker was stepping down as chief executive came as Nike’s stock price hit a high of more than $95 in trading Tuesday. The stock has nearly doubled in the past three years, reflecting Nike’s growth in key markets like China and its focus on selling directly to consumers, both online and in its own stores. For the year ending in May, Nike’s revenue grew by 7.5%, to $39.1 billion.
The financial success has been tempered in recent years by a series of controversies inside the company.
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