After Kanye West claimed he could make antisemitic statements and Adidas wouldn’t drop him, the shoe company did just that.
However, the controversial decision to end an over-seven-year relationship with the 21-time Grammy Award-winning artist didn’t come without drawbacks. A new report from The Financial Times lays the costs of that major decision bare.
According to the report, Adidas has roughly $530 million worth of old Kanye West merchandise. Adidas is looking to sell those shoes at a steep discount to avoid an end-of-the-year financial calamity.
The report makes clear that Adidas does not yet know how it will offload those shoes. It also reveals just how deep Adidas went into business with West, and how much of their success hinged upon the mainstream success of the now blackballed star.
The report claims Adidas made “upwards of $1.8 billion” on the deal with West, which would be roughly seven percent of the company’s annual profits. The extent of the financial benefit helps explain why the sneaker conglomerate took so long to end its deal with West.
The company is set to release its first unofficial West product—the Adidas 350 v2 “Granite”—for $230 in January. Industry onlookers will be curious to see how that product sells without West’s traditional branding.
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