There are only 74 seats in the royal box at Wimbledon, and invitations "arrive two to three months before the tournament." There is a "dress code: jackets and ties for men, and no skirts or dresses ending above the knee for women." Tennis Channel Chair & CEO KEN SOLOMON said it is a "cross section of the most interesting people who are in the U.K. at that moment." This year, Lagardère’s DONALD DELL said that he sat with golfer ERNIE ELS and London Times Editor JOHN WITHEROW. PRINCE WILLIAM and PRINCESS KATE watched yesterday's men's final from the royal box, as did U.K. Prime Minister THERESA MAY and PRINCE ALBERT II of Monaco. Actors BRADLEY COOPER, HUGH GRANT and EDDIE REDMAYNE also attended (N.Y. TIMES, 7/17).
JUST DOING IT: Nike Chair, President & CEO MARK PARKER was paid $47.6M last year, making him the "highest-paid public-company executive in the Northwest." Parker's compensation increased 183%, thanks to a $30M stock grant by the company's BOD. The BOD "granted the award because of Nike's performance under Parker and their desire" to keep him on the job for a few more years (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/16)....Nike co-Founder & Chair Emeritus PHIL KNIGHT "recently gave a rare interview with the Harvard Business Review." Knight discussed late Nike co-Founder BILL BOWERMAN's "obsessive tinkering with athletic shoes and lofty standards." He also touched on Nike's "ill-fated effort to bring in an outside CEO" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/14).
ROUND MOUND OF PANELISTS: CHARLES BARKLEY was “invited to appear” last week at Allen & Co.’s Sun Valley Conference. Barkley’s invite came through NBC’s TOM BROKAW, who is an “old pal.” Barkley was asked to “participate on a panel discussion Tuesday, where he got a chance to talk about his ‘mission’ of narrowing the gap between America’s rich and poor.” Since leaving the conference Barkley has “received a couple of texts” from PRESIDENT TRUMP’s son-in-law, JARED KUSHNER. Barkley said, “He said he really appreciated the speech and wanted to know if we could sit down and talk” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 7/16).
THE GOOD STUFF: Pistons coach STAN VAN GUNDY is "throwing his support behind Men's Wearhouse's national suit drive for the month of July." The goal is to "provide professional attire to men trying to re-enter the work force" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 7/15)....Panthers RB CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY and Dick's Sporting Goods on Friday gave a group of 15 children from Charlotte Youth Football a $150 shopping spree to kick off Dick's first "Celebrate Youth Sports Weekend" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/15).
NAMES: Lightning Owner JEFF VINIK is “one of four anonymous lenders who helped refinance the Tampa Bay Times” (POYNTER.com, 7/14)....Former MLBer PRINCE FIELDER’s new passion is his TV show “FIELDER’S CHOICE.” His agent, SCOTT BORAS, makes a guest appearance, as well as Yankees P C.C. SABATHIA and Baseball HOFer KEN GRIFFEY JR. (DALLASNEWS.com, 7/13)....Former MLBer MARK MULDER yesterday won the American Century Championships celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe for the “third straight year.” Former MLBer DEREK LOWE tied for second with former tennis player MARDY FISH, while Warriors G STEPHEN CURRY finished fourth (RGJ.com, 7/16)....Fox MLB analyst ALEX RODRIGUEZ has partnered with TruFusion, a chain of “group fitness studios offering classes, many in high temperatures, that include pilates, yoga, fitness boot camp and cycling.” Rodriguez has “bought the rights to all TruFusion studios in his home state of Florida.” Rodriguez will serve on the company’s BOD (REVIEWJOURNAL.com, 7/14)....Rockets G JAMES HARDEN recently hosted a "two-day camp for kids” in East Valley, Ariz., “staying grounded in a community that helped raise him as he gets ready to face the most scrutiny of his career" (AZCENTRAL.com, 7/15)....Ex-financial adviser CHARLES BANKS, who defrauded former NBAer TIM DUNCAN out of $7.5M, has been “sentenced to four years in prison” after pleading guilty to wire fraud in April (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/16).
