Some superfan paid over $200,000 for Steve Jobs’ old Birkenstocks

At the “Icons and Idols: Rock ’N’ Roll” auction in New York City last week, a pair of brown Birkenstock owned by Steve Jobs sold for $218,750. The Apple founder has maintained cult-like status for more than 11 years after his passing, demonstrated by the sale of the "well-used" sandals. They auctioned significantly higher than the auction organizers were expecting to raise, which also included an NFT of images of the Birkenstocks as part of the sale.

The brown suede Birkenstock Arizonas were worn by Jobs in the 1970s and 1980s during "many pivotal moments in Apple's history," according to the auction house. The sale marks the highest-earning sandals at an auction. However, a pair of Nike Air Ships worn by Michael Jordan in the 1980's sold for $1.47 million a few years ago, and a pair of Black Nikes worn by Kanye West at the 2008 Grammy's sold for $1.8 million last year.

For more information see Chris Morris's “Some Superman paid over $200,000 for Steve Jobs’ old Birkenstocks”, Yahoo! Finance, November 14, 2022 and James Doubek's "Steve Jobs' worn-out Birkenstocks sell for $218,000 at auction", NPR, November 15, 2022.

Special thanks to David S. Luber (Florida Probate Attorney) for bringing this article to my attention.