Nike

Reasons to avoid

1. Nike refused for years to compensate 4,000+ garment workers owed $2.2 million in legally mandated wages and benefits after two of its supplier factories closed without paying workers. Over 50 human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, and investors managing $4 trillion in assets pressured Nike to pay. Nike spent $1 billion on marketing in early 2024 alone while withholding the $2.2 million.cleanclothes.org2024-07-26
2. Human Rights Watch reported that 1,284 Cambodian garment workers — mostly women — were owed $1.4 million in severance when the Violet Apparel factory closed in 2020. Nike denied producing goods there despite photographic evidence, worker testimony, and Nike's own published supply chain disclosures listing the factory.hrw.org2023-07-20
3. The Paradise Papers revealed Nike used a Dutch shell entity ("Nike Innovate CV") designed to be tax-resident nowhere in the world, routing billions in European trademark royalties through structures taxed at just 3% — yielding no U.S. tax at all. Nike had built $6.6 billion in offshore profits by 2014 using these arrangements.cbc.ca2017-11-06
4. A 2024 class action lawsuit accused Nike of greenwashing, alleging its "sustainable" clothing collection is made predominantly from virgin synthetic plastics — not recycled materials as marketed. The suit claims Nike's products shed microplastics into oceans and that its "Move to Zero" and sustainability claims are false and deceptive.classaction.org2024-04-09
5. Nike laid off its entire Sustainable Innovation team and slashed sustainability staff despite pledging to cut supply chain emissions 30% by 2030. As of reporting, Nike's total carbon emissions were only 1.6% lower than when it made its climate moonshot pledge years earlier. Nike's supply chain — 99% of its emissions — runs on coal-heavy power in Vietnam, China, and Indonesia.propublica.org2025-04-24
6. Nike authorized $18 billion in stock buybacks in 2022, benefiting wealthy investors, while simultaneously cutting the share of its retail price paid to the garment workers who make its products. Nike's CEO received more than 24,000 times the compensation of a garment worker in Sri Lanka making Nike clothing.inequality.org2025-02-10