Adidas said it might have to write off the remaining $320 million worth of Yeezy shoes left unsold after it cut ties with rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.
via: HotNewHipHop
West and Adidas had to break up last year due to Ye’s persistent antics. Overall, it was pretty hard for a lot of people to watch. Kanye was saying a whole bunch of anti-semitic things while also going full-on alt-right. Although Adidas knew a lot of money was at stake, they decided to do the morally correct thing and sever all ties. However, this left a lot of money on the table as the brand had about $1 billion in Yeezy merchandise sitting in a warehouse somewhere.
Over the past year or so, Adidas has been releasing some of this stuff back on the market. This has helped them recoup hundreds of millions of dollars. That said, according to the Associated Press, the brand still has about $320 Million in stock leftover. CEO Bjorn Gulden is now claiming that all of this merchandise may have to be written off. Logistically, they don’t even know if they will ever be able to sell it.
“Right now, that is financially the worst case and it is a possibility,” Gulden said. “Currently, there is no decision.” Gulden went on to say that realistically, they would love to get rid of the inventory and continue their charitable efforts. “We of course hope we can do more drops next year and we can get more value out of it and donate the proceeds,” the CEO said. “But right now, financially, we haven’t made a decision and that’s why the outlook is the way it is.”
