Tinker Haven Hatfield, Jr. was born on 30th of April 1952 in Hillsboro, Oregon, USA, and is known particularly as the designer of several Nike athletic shoes, including Air Jordan 3, Air Jordan 30, and the twentieth anniversary Air Jordan XX and many others. He is the man behind many Nike innovations, and Nike’s Vice President for Design and Special Projects.
Have you ever wondered how rich Tinker Hatfield is? According to sources, it has been estimated that Tinker Hatfield’s net worth is over $25 million, acquired largely through being one of Nike’s most important designers and directors. His designs have placed him in the rank of Legend of Design and significantly increased his net worth.
Tinker Hatfield Net Worth $25 Million
Tinker was born to Tinker Hatfield Sr., a famous Oregon coach, and Tinker himself was an all-state selection as a basketball and football player, and an All-American in track and field while in high school; in 1970 he was named as the Johnny Carpenter Prep Athlete of the Year. Hatfield enrolled at the University of Oregon to study Architecture, where he met coach and Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman. Kick-starting his net worth, Tinker then joined “Nike” in 1981, and four years later started working on their shoe design, successfully applying his architectural skills to shoes, and by 1989 he became the creative director of Nike product design. In 1987 he designed the Air Max 1 Running Shoe, and the Infrared Air Max 90 shoe was released by 1990. They were so successful that he was subsequently named one of the 100 Most Influential Designers of the century by Fortune magazine in 1998.
Apart from this, Hatfield is the creator of the Matthew Knight Arena’s graphic design, the facility which opened in 2011. He was also the lead designer of Air Jordans III through to XX3 and the co-designer of Air Jordans 2010 and XXX. During the ‘90s he was twice named one of the 100 Most Influential People in sports business by Sportstyle magazine; his net worth grew accordingly.
Apart from cooperating with Michael Jordan every year, Hatfield has worked with numerous other celebrities from sports, music and films such as Roger Federer, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Michael J. Fox, Sheryl Crow and many others. Some of Tinker’s other credits include the Air Huarache series for which he won an International Design Award in 1993, the Air Mowabb, Andre Agassi footwear and clothing, and Michael Johnson’s golden track spikes.
Tinker has also been a writer for the Harvard Business Review, and has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and other publications. In 2013 he worked on car designs for Gran Turismo 6, and the following year stated that Nike would present a shoe as worn by Marty McFly in “Back to the Future Part II” (1989), which partly takes place in year 2015. Hatfield is currently working on the redevelopment of Nike Global retail stores.
When it comes to his private life, Tinker has been married to Jackie – whom he met as a student in Oregon – since 1978, and they have three daughters. His younger brother, Tobie Hatfield also joined Nike as a senior engineer in 1990.
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