Jensen Huang, Nvidia chief executive officer (CEO), is putting up for auction the black Tom Ford leather jacket he often wore.
On the 3rd (local time), auction house Sotheby's said it will hold an auction from the 7th to the 17th for the Tom Ford leather jacket donated by Huang, the CEO. The jacket also bears Huang's autograph.
The jacket on offer this time is the one Huang wore at the Hon Hai Tech Day (HHTD) event held in Taipei, Taiwan, on Oct. 18, 2023. Hon Hai Tech Day is the annual event of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, widely known by its English corporate name "Foxconn."
The item is said to be in like-new condition. Sports memorabilia authenticator PSA and professional authenticator JSA certified it as genuine.
The expected hammer price for the "Huang CEO jacket" is set at $40,000–$60,000 (about 60 million–90 million won). That is on par with the price of Nvidia's latest artificial intelligence (AI) chip, "Blackwell."
Considering that the original price of a Tom Ford leather jacket is around $10,000, its valuation amounts to several times the list price.
Huang's black leather jacket has become an emblem representing the tech industry. He is said to have built his own image by favoring the same style of leather jacket not only at product launches and developer conferences but also in everyday settings such as eating street food.
Sotheby's introduced the lot as "a relic of the belief that those who bravely venture into the unknown before anyone else shape the future," and "a symbol of vision born at the forefront of the AI revolution."
Auction proceeds will be donated in full to the nonprofit Edge Institute through the charitable project of the venture fund Long Journey Ventures. Edge Institute operates EdgeCity, an experimental community where innovators, researchers, philosophers and artists live together and collaborate.