adidas Donating Yeezy Proceeds To George Floyd Foundation
adidas To Donate Proceeds From Yeezy Inventory To George Floyd’s Family Foundation
Source: Jeremy Moeller / Getty
In the spectacularly bad breakup between Kanye West and adidas, the German apparel company was literally left holding the bag full of unsold Yeezys.
Now they’ve announced they’ll be selling that reportedly $1 billion worth of inventory and donating the proceeds to anti-hate organizations that include the foundation set up by Philonese Floyd. Floyd founded the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change after his brother was killed by a group of police officers in his adopted home city of Minneapolis.
“After careful consideration, we have decided to begin releasing some of the remaining adidas Yeezy products,” adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden announced in a prepared statement. “Selling and donating was the preferred option among all organizations and stakeholders we spoke to. There is no place in sport or society for hate of any kind and we remain committed to fighting against it.”
The Anti-Defamation League will receive some of the money as well, something their CEO says he appreciates, in light of the ugly antisemitic comments West made that forced adidas’ hand.
“At a time when antisemitism has reached historic levels in the U.S. and is rising globally, we appreciate how adidas turned a negative situation into a very positive outcome,” ADL’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said.
Forbes declared West a billionaire in 2020, after the rap and fashion mogul insisted the magazine review his financials. But his Yeezy brand was a large part of his net worth and when the partnership ended, West’s net worth plummeted and he was knocked off the Forbes list.
Gulden didn’t say how much of the sales proceeds would go to the organizations, only that the amount would be “significant.”
adidas also did not reveal whether or not they would try to influence the resale market. Demand for Yeezys has climbed 30%, per Impossible Kicks CEO John Mocadlo, since the split between adidas and West last October.
“We sell about 30,000 sneakers in total every month,” Mocadlo told CNN Business. “Probably 6,000 to 7,000 of those right now are Yeezys.”
See how Twitter reacted to adidas teaming up with West one last time below.
