Nike names new CEO to help return ailing sneaker brand to success

He will replace current CEO John Donahoe, who has been leading Nike since 2020. Donahoe will remains as an advisor to the company until January 31, 2025.

The CEO change comes as Nike struggles to turn its business around. Since December, the company has been cutting costs, including cutting some jobs, as it aims to save $2 billion over the next three years. Analysts said the company leaned too far into selling sneakers directly to customers rather than through retailers. The company has also tried, with mixed results, to expand its lifestyle business, some said.

Hill’s name may already be familiar to those who follow Nike, as he worked at the company before retiring in 2020. Hill held several roles at the sneaker giant over three decades. He was most recently president, consumer and market, where he led “all commercial and marketing operations for Nike and Jordan Brand,” the company said in its statement.

“Hill is known and appreciated internally and with retail partners, which may lead to an immediate morale boost,” BMO analyst Simeon Siegel wrote in a research note after Nike’s announcement. He added that Hill will lead a return to Nike’s “competitive advantages (focusing on product/marketing) versus the shift of recent years.”

Nike shares rose 10 percent in aftermarket trading on the news.

His rehiring is another sign that Nike is betting on the company’s veterans to return. In July, Nike hired Tom Peddie, another company veteran, to be vice president of market partners.

Donahoe, by contrast, was an outsider to the shoe business when he joined the company as CEO in 2020.