Topline
Billionaire Nike co-Founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, on Thursday gifted the Oregon Health & Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute a record-setting $2 billion, marking the largest ever single donation to a U.S. educational institution.
Knight has an estimated net worth of $34.5 billion. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
The $2 billion donation will accelerate diagnostics, give patients access to clinical trials conducted by Knight Cancer Institute researchers and bolster patient support that includes nutritional support, psychological and financial counseling and symptom management, according to a statement.
Cancer research expert and former Knight Cancer institute CEO Dr. Brian Druker said the donation will “transform the way we care for patients while continuing to develop innovative treatments,” with The Wall Street Journal reporting the $2 billion will roughly double the cancer center’s size.
Michael Bloomberg’s $1.8 billion donation to Johns Hopkins for financial aid support previously held the top spot for the largest gift ever made to a U.S. educational institution.
Knight, who has an estimated net worth of $35.4 billion, is known for making large donations to universities and academic institutions.
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Forbes Valuation
The Knights hold one of the top spots in Forbes’ 2025 list of America’s most generous philanthropists. As of January, the Knights had notched a lifetime giving total of $3.98 billion, representing 10% of their net worth at the time.
Tangent
The record-setting donation comes as the Trump administration has frozen or threatened to pull funding from prestigious universities around the U.S. over antisemitism allegations and opposition to the universities’ diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Academic institutions like the University of California Los Angeles and Harvard have warned the pulled funding could hinder or outright eliminate their health research.
Key Background
Knight, a University of Oregon alum, co-founded Nike in 1964 alongside Bill Bowerman, when it was known as “Blue Ribbon Sports.” Knight retired as the company’s chairman in 2016 but still owns about 20% of the company with his family as it boasts a market capitalization of $112.7 billion. Much of Knight’s fortune comes from Nike’s success. He established the Knight Foundation in 1997, focusing its philanthropy efforts on areas like journalism, education and the arts. The foundation had an endowment of roughly $2.5 billion in 2024. That same year, Phil and Penny donated $258 million to his alma mater, $100 million of which was given as a part of two $500 million pledges the Knights committed to in 2016 and 2021.
