Steve Jobs had his turtlenecks, Jensen Huang has his iconic leather jackets. Well, one less of them now, anyway. Famous auctioneer Sotheby's put one of Huang's jackets up for auction over the weekend, with estimates placing the value between $40,000 to $60,000.
However, the hammer price (after 65 bids) ended up being an astonishing $960,000—with the proceeds going towards young people's futures (via Tom's Hardware).
The auction was organized by Long Journey Ventures to benefit the Edge Institute, a non-profit that "convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, culture, and society in popup villages to live together and experiment towards a brighter future."
"The proceeds will fund fellowships, grants, and residencies for the next generation of young builders to pursue their passions and projects, supporting them to find their higher purpose," says the Sotheby's page.
But blimey, stone the crows etc, that's a lot of money for a leather jacket. Particularly as it's a Tom Ford model that usually retails for much less. Still, this has been worn and signed by the Nvidia CEO, and the auction listing has some wonderfully flowery copy to giggle at.
Try this on for size:
"Instantly recognizable to audiences around the world, the 'Jensen Jacket' has come to be a relic of a simple belief: that the future is built by people brave enough to journey into the unknown before anyone else can see what they see," says the listing.
"This is not only a jacket. It is the uniform of a 'first believer'; a symbol of his leadership style embodying authenticity, ingenuity, persistence, courage and joy. It has become a symbol for the vision at the forefront of the AI revolution."
Sir, this is a Wendy's.
Anyway, as you might expect, Huang has lots and lots of leather jackets (he was even gifted one by a frankly terrifying robot last year), but this one has apparently been photo-matched to a Hon Hai Tech Day event in Taipei back in 2023. I'll point out that Taiwan is famously humid, so hopefully it's been given a once-over since then.
