Phil Knight jets to Redmond the week of a $2B cancer institute launch

Phil Knight flew from Hillsboro Airport to Roberts Field in Redmond, Oregon on May 18, a flight of just 27 minutes aboard his Gulfstream G500 N19HT. The short hop — roughly 100 miles east — came the same month the Phil and Penny Knight Foundation's record $2 billion commitment to the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute moves from announcement into operational reality. The gift, announced in August 2025, establishes the Knight Cancer Group as a self-governed entity within OHSU and funds a fully integrated care model for patients, per [OHSU News](https://news.ohsu.edu/2025/08/14/ohsu-knight-cancer-institute-receives-record-2-billion-commitment-from-phil-and-penny-knight).

Redmond sits near the Deschutes River corridor, a region where Knight has long maintained ties through his Hillsboro-based holding company and charitable foundation. While the Knight Cancer Institute is based in Portland, OHSU's statewide reach includes research partnerships and clinical affiliates in Central Oregon. The flight suggests the 88-year-old billionaire is personally engaged in the rollout of the institute's expanded operations, which Dr. Brian Druker will lead as president of the new Knight Cancer Group.

Knight's travel pattern in recent days — round-trips to Palm Springs and Phoenix — indicates he had been away from Oregon before this Redmond visit. The G500, with its 'NIGHT' tail registration, is the newer of his two jets, both hangared in Hillsboro. For a man whose $7.6 million private hangar was built for discretion, a 27-minute flight to Redmond is less about distance than about presence.