#4: Nike’s Phil Knight and Penny Knight

ack in the year 1968, before Phil Knight amassed his fortune, he found himself in the classroom teaching Accounting 101 at Portland State University, a role he took on to support a modest side gig where he first met his wife, Penny. In a whirlwind turn of events, the two tied the knot that very same year. Just three short years down the road, the decision was made to rebrand Blue Ribbon Sports, birthing the iconic name we all recognize today: Nike, the behemoth of the footwear world.

Fast-forward to the present and the Knight family boasts a collective net worth that exceeds a staggering $52 billion, according to Forbes. In the year 2020, Phil and Penny Knight demonstrated their commitment to philanthropy by making the second and third largest charitable contributions in the United States. They donated a whopping $900 million to the Knight Foundation and another $300 million to the University of Oregon.