Steve Jobs' Old Birkenstock Sandals Sell for over $200,000 at Auction

A buyer recently paid over $200,000 for a pair of Steve Jobs’ worn-out Birkenstocks that he wore in the 1970s and 1980s.

The old two-strapped sandals were initially expected to sell for around $60,000 but were sold for $218,750 through Julien’s Auctions. The buyer also received an NFT with the purchase.

The same model that Jobs wore, known as the “Arizona,” currently sells for $125, which is 1,750 times less than what the buyer paid at the auction.

Birkenstocks were created in Germany in 1774 and started selling in the U.S. in 1966, where they became associated with the hippie, alternative, New Age movement of which Jobs was a supporter, according to Julien’s.

The Birkenstocks still contain Job’s foot imprint and are noticeably old and worn out. The Apple founder would even wear the Birkenstocks during the winter months, the Washington Post noted.

Job’s former house manager, Mark Sheff, previously owned the sandals and kept them from being discarded because “he [Jobs] kept very few things.”

According to the auction website, Jobs wore the sandals through several pivot moments in Apple’s history, including in 1976, when the origins of the Apple computer were being developed in a Los Altos, California garage, with co-founder Steve Wozniak.

“These beloved Birkenstocks were worn by Jobs as he made history in the making of the Apple computer and were the tech icon’s signature staple,” Darren Julien, CEO and founder of Julien’s Auctions, told CNN.

Jobs died of pancreatic cancer in 2011.

The shoes were sold as a part of the “Icons and Idols: Rock ‘n Roll” public auction that featured artifacts from musicians and pop culture figures such as Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Eddie Van Halen, and many others.

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.