While discussing the goal of a company, maximize shareholders wealth, in FIN101 this week a student asked a thinly-veiled political question: “what are your thoughts on the Nike-Kaepernick deal.” I connected Nike’s decision to the goal just discussed: maximizing shareholder wealth. True, Nike is down a little bit, but time will tell if Nike’s calculations were correct.

Another point to consider, but not mentioned in the Bloomberg article, is the fact that Nike is a global company. As such, the opinions of a few Trump supporters or right wing folks in the United States may be meaningless compared to additional revenue generated outside the United States. In short, on a global scale, there may be just a few loud and irrelevant people burning Nike products (instead of giving them to homeless veterans or something) and billions of quiet people buying more Nike products in support.

-Dr. Moore

Nike Orders Rose in Four-Day Period After Kaepernick Ad Debut
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-07/nike-orders-rose-in-four-day-period-after-kaepernick-ad-debut