Shoes go on sale February 10, 2023 at an Adidas store in Chicago, Illinois.
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Adidas plans to sell some of its remaining Yeezy inventory and donate the money to charities harmed by Ye’s anti-Semitic remarks, the company’s CEO said Thursday.
The CEO, Bjorn Gulden, did not name the charities he is considering.
“When we do that and how we do that remains to be seen, but we are working on that,” he said.
At one point, the company considered setting fire to the merchandise.
“Burning the shoes cannot be the solution,” said Gulden. He says he came to that conclusion after talking to several NGOs and learning about the environmental damage.
Appears on his first annual meeting for the German company, Gulden said it was the right thing for Adidas to terminate the contract of their biggest star, Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West.
“He’s a difficult person, but he’s arguably the most creative person in our industry,” he said. “He created a model with Adidas that was wanted all over the world,” he added.
Gulden took over from Adidas on January 1, following the departure of CEO Kasper Rorsted. He previously worked at rival Puma.
What to do with the tarnished sneaker brand fueled the discussion. Gulden says he has received more than 500 offers for Yeezy leftovers.
Adidas’ most recent earnings beat expectations, but were weighed down by the buildup of Yeezy inventories. “The lifestyle decline and loss of Yeezy obviously hurts us,” Gulden said during his company’s earnings call on May 5.
The company parted ways with Ye in October after months of bizarre behavior and anti-Semitic remarks from the hip-hop artist.
The split left Adidas with inventory levels of $500 million worth of sneakers, with sales value exceeding $1 billion, according to the company.