Phil Knight returns to Portland after brief Arizona trip

Phil Knight landed in Hillsboro on May 14, piloting his Gulfstream G500 from Mesa, Arizona, after a short stay in the Southwest. The flight, lasting just over two hours, brought the Nike co-founder and chairman emeritus back to his home base, where his personal hangar at Hillsboro Airport houses his two-jet fleet.

The trip comes amid Knight's continued involvement with the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, to which he and his wife Penny pledged a record $2 billion in August 2025. While no public event was scheduled this week at the institute, Knight's pattern of shuttling between Oregon and warmer climates for meetings and personal time is well-established. Earlier in May, his aircraft tracked to the Palm Springs area, a frequent destination.

Knight, worth an estimated $35.7 billion per Forbes, has long allowed Nike employees to use his jets. The May 14 return to Portland suggests a routine transition between business obligations and the quiet rural life he maintains outside Hillsboro.