Steve Jobs’ sandals sold for over $218,000

Updated on: 15 November 2022

Justinas Vainilavičius
Senior Journalist

jobs_sandals — Image by Julien's Auctions

A pair of “well used” old Birkenstocks once owned by Apple’s founder Steve Jobs went under the hammer for $218,750.

Someone paid more than 14 times the original asking price of $15,000 for the distinct brown suede leather sandals worn by Jobs regularly in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Julien’s Auctions, which sold the piece of memorabilia, was expecting the pair to fetch anywhere between $60,000 and $80,000. It has received 19 bids in an online auction that took place over the weekend.

According to the auction house, the Apple founder was “fascinated” by the practicality of the Birkenstock sandals when the German brand was first introduced in the US. It said each sandal still had original features like adjustable buckles but was “well used” even if appearing intact.

“The cork and jute footbed retains the imprint of Steve Jobs' feet, which had been shaped after years of use. The rubber soles of the sandals show heavy wear from use,” it noted in the auction bidding description.

This particular pair of sandals was first auctioned off in 2016, when it was offered for $850 alongside some other items that belonged to Jobs. It is unclear for how much it sold then.

Its previous owner Mark Sheff, a manager for one of Jobs’ estates in the 1980s, told the Business Insider in 2016 that he collected the sandals when his boss threw them out along with some other items because “he kept very few things.”

Along with the sandals that Jobs wore “during many pivotal moments in Apple’s history,” the lucky bidder will also get a digital representation of the pair in the form of an NFT, and a book called The 213 Most Important Men In My Life by Jean Pigozzi.