Tarnished Nike Executive Is Slated to Receive $525,000 Payout

(Bloomberg) -- The Nike Inc. executive who resigned last week amid a companywide internal review of inappropriate behavior is poised to leave with a $525,000 payout.

Trevor Edwards, the former president of the Nike brand and a one-time candidate to become the next chief executive officer, will officially depart in August after a stint as an adviser to Chief Executive Officer Mark Parker. At that point, a noncompete agreement kicks in that will pay Edwards the $525,000 over the next year in monthly installments, according to regulatory filings.

Nike cast a cloud over Edwards’s exit by saying it was reviewing misconduct at the world’s largest athletic brand. One of the 55-year-old’s top lieutenants, Jayme Martin, also abruptly left the company last week. Still, Nike didn’t link the behavior to either executive.

Edwards will also have about $9 million of unvested stock awards at the end of his employment, based on Nike’s closing price on Friday. At retirement, this kind of compensation usually gets cashed out or keeps vesting. But Nike’s filing doesn’t make this clear, and the company declined to answer questions about Edwards’s compensation.

Nike has repeatedly said there were no direct allegations of improper behavior against Edwards. The executive wasn’t available for comment, according to the company.

--With assistance from Jenn Zhao

To contact the reporters on this story: Matt Townsend in New York at mtownsend9@bloomberg.net, Anders Melin in New York at amelin3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net.

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