Biography After almost three decades at Nike, Charlie Denson has a deep understanding of the brand. As an assistant manager at Nike’s first retail store in Portland in 1979, he learned the business from the ground up. Since then, he’s run the company’s U.S. and European operations and pioneered Nike’s expansion into China, India and Brazil. He’s been a constant innovator in developing sales and distribution strategies and driving global growth as Nike expanded into more than 160 countries. Today, he leads the Nike brand worldwide.