Jensen Huang's signed black Tom Ford leather jacket sold for $960,000 USD at Sotheby's auction in New York, ending July 17 after 65 bids from 45 bidders, showing intense competition and far surpassing the estimated $40,000 to $60,000 USD range [1, 2, 3, 4]. The final price was about 16 times Sotheby’s highest estimate and more than 90 times the jacket's original retail value of under $10,000 USD [1, 5, 2, 6, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 4].
Huang wore and signed the jacket himself at the Foxconn Taipei Technology Day event on October 18, 2023, elevating its historical and collectible value [1, 6, 3, 9, 10, 12, 4]. Sotheby’s confirmed the jacket’s authenticity through professional verification by James Spence Authentication, including Huang’s signature [6, 12, 4].
The auction drew wide interest, with Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s Head of Modern Collectibles, saying, "這次拍賣的反應超出了我們最高的預期" (The response to the auction exceeded our highest expectations) [1]. Wachter also described the jacket as "a close artifact related to one of the most iconic figures of the AI era," highlighting its significance [4].
Jensen Huang has worn this style of black leather jacket consistently for about 20 years, jokingly calling it his "founder uniform" [1, 12, 4]. The jacket's wear marks and Huang's autograph added to its appeal, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg commenting, "這件更值錢，因為是穿過的" (This is more valuable because it was worn) [1]. Huang’s jackets, often Tom Ford, are commonly seen at product launches, company events, and trade shows, with some retailing for over $10,000 USD [1, 2, 6, 12, 4].
The proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Edge Institute, a nonprofit that fosters innovation, scholarships, and collaborative projects among practitioners from technology, science, culture, and social sectors [1, 5, 2, 6, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 11, 4]. The Edge Institute specializes in creating temporary shared communities for experimental collaboration [6, 12].
The auction ran from July 7 to July 17, 2026, culminating with the winning bid that set a record price for wearable tech memorabilia at Sotheby's [1, 4].
