Want to literally walk in the shoes of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs? One anonymous buyer just spent $200,000+ to own a pair of sandals Jobs wore back in the 1970s and 1980s.
Julien’s Auction this weekend opened bids for the item(Opens in a new window), which was expected to sell for between $60,000 to $80,000. But in the end, the sandals sold for $218,750 after 19 bids were placed.
The sold slippers are a pair of Birkenstock Arizona sandals, which currently cost between $50 to $130. Jobs’ former property manager Mark Sheff came to own the sandals after the Apple co-founder decided to throw them out, according to Business Insider(Opens in a new window).
(Credit: Julien’s Auction)
Based on photos(Opens in a new window), the sandals were occasionally worn in the early days of Apple, including when Jobs developed the Apple-1 Computer with company co-founder Steve Wozniak. According to Julien’s Auction, Jobs was also a fan of Birkenstock sandals.
“When Jobs discovered the ingenuity and practicality of Birkenstocks, he became fascinated. Margot Fraser, who brought the brand to the United States, was among Steve’s first calls upon trying on the iconic sandal,” the auction house said.
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Jobs’ property owner, Sheff, auctioned off the sandals in 2016. But they initially only sold(Opens in a new window) for $2,750 at Heritage Auctions. Since then, they’ve appeared in several exhibitions with the Birkenstock company, as well as in furniture and museum showings, which likely helped increase their value. Julien’s Auction says the sandals are quite worn, but they contain the imprint of Jobs’ feet.
All kinds of memorabilia from Jobs has been up for auction over the years, including a prototype Apple-1 Computer that Jobs used as a demo, which sold for over $677,000 in August.
