Phil Knight jets to Thermal for Coachella Valley residence visit

Phil Knight flew from Portland's Hillsboro Airport to Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport in Thermal, California, on May 11 aboard his Gulfstream G650, tail number N1KE. The 1 hour 57 minute flight covered the roughly 700-mile distance at altitudes up to 41,000 feet, landing in the heart of the Coachella Valley by early afternoon.

Knight, the Nike co-founder worth $35.7 billion, maintains a residence in upscale La Quinta, as noted in a January Yahoo report on celebrity homeowners in the area. With no major Nike events or public appearances scheduled this week in Palm Springs, the trip aligns with a personal visit to his desert property—purchased in the Madison Club for $4.2 million back in 2015, per Desert Sun coverage. The valley's mild May weather offers a wry contrast to Oregon's variable springs.

This marks Knight's second round-trip to the region in three days; on May 9, N1KE shuttled him from near Palm Springs coordinates back to Portland, suggesting a pattern of brief escapes to his second home. Such flights underscore his enduring ties to the area, beyond Nike's boardrooms and philanthropic boardrooms.