A pair of Yeezy shoes at a Foot Locker store in Garden City, N.Y., on Oct. 25, 2022.SHANNON STAPLETON/Reuters
Adidas sold its last pair of Yeezy sneakers at the end of 2024, the sportswear brand said on Wednesday, ending the process of liquidating stock of the lucrative shoe partnership with rapper Ye after splitting from him in October 2022.
Adidas has been trying to put the Yeezy affair behind it since antisemitic rants by Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, forced it to end the highly profitable partnership, denting revenues and driving the company to an annual loss in 2023.
“There is not one Yeezy shoe left, it has all been sold and that episode is behind us,” Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer told a news conference on Wednesday after Adidas reported results.
The company has felt the loss of Yeezy particularly in the United States, where the shoes were popular. In its results on Wednesday Adidas said North America sales fell 2 per cent in 2024, “solely due to significantly lower Yeezy sales.”
The company started selling off its remaining stock of Yeezy shoes in May 2023, pledging to donate part of the proceeds to organizations combatting antisemitism, including the Anti-Defamation League.
Adidas reported it sold €650-million ($696-million) worth of Yeezy sneakers last year, making a profit of around €200-million.
The year before, Adidas made €750-million in revenue from Yeezy inventory, generating €300-million in operating profit.
The company has set aside €260-million for charitable donations from the proceeds of Yeezy sales, CEO Bjorn Gulden told a news conference. That amounts to about half of the operating profit Adidas made on selling off its stock of the sneakers in 2023 and 2024.
Of that, €200-million is held in a foundation set up by Adidas, while 60 million has already been paid out to charity organizations, Gulden said.