Elliott Hill started at Nike as an intern in 1988 but steadily scaled its ranks, banking on values of grit and hard work ingrained in him as the son of a single mom in a working class Texas neighborhood.

Nike Inc. ousted beleaguered chief executive John Donahoe, bringing longtime executive Elliott Hill out of retirement to return the struggling athletic brand to its glory days.Hill, 60, originally joined Nike in 1988 and served as president of consumer and marketplace before he retired in 2020.

Elliott Hill, an executive who left the company after Donahoe’s appointment in 2020, will return as chief executive, Nike’s board said.