Adidas Will Start Selling Yeezy Sneakers Again

Adidas has reveals plans to sell their $1.3 billion unsold Yeezy inventory and donate the proceeds to international organizations.

On Thursday (May 11), Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden told reporters at the company's Annual General Meeting 2023 in Fuerth, Germany, that for the past few months, the company has been trying to figure out how to get rid of its inventory of Yeezy sneakers.

"... For the last four months, we have been trying to find solutions on what to do with it. Burning the goods is not the solution," he said, according to a statement from Adidas. "Now, talking to all the NGOs, and a lot of organizations that have been hurt by Kanye [West], they all say, no, that's not the solution."

"What we are trying to do now over time is to sell parts of this inventory and donate money to the organizations that are helping us and that was also hurt by Kanye's statements," Gulden continued. "When we will do that and how we will do that is not clear yet, but we are working on those things. But I think burning the products is not the point. And we will update you as soon as that decision is made."

Reuters reports that the sneaker and apparel brand plans to sell the Yeezy sneakers, but how and when they would proceed with that have not been determined.

There is also a tweet from a Kanye West/Yeezy Fan Club Twitter page reporting Kanye will receive a 15 percent commission from the sales of Yeezys. However, this information has yet to be confirmed.

It reads: "ADIDAS WILL START SELLING YZY AGAIN...PART OF PROCEEDS WILL GO TO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS...YE WILL BE ENTITLED TO A 15% COMMISSION ON ALL GOODS SOLD"

XXL has reached out to an Adidas rep for comment.

As previously reported, Adidas severed its partnership with Kanye West in October 2022 following his anti-Semitic comments in interviews and on social media. The sneaker brand is also facing a class-action lawsuit from shareholders who claim the brand was aware of Ye's volatile behavior a long time before they ended their deal with him over his anti-Semitic rhetoric.

Last Friday (May 5), Adidas posted its first-quarter fiscal report, which reveals the shoe giant had $661 million in lost sales after terminating their partnership with Kanye. Overall, it was a total loss of $565 million for the footwear company.

If Adidas does sell their unsold Yeezy inventory this would benefit sneakerheads who want to grab some Yeezys one last time and help organizations who need funding.