Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s signature black leather jacket has sold for $960,000 at a Sotheby’s auction, far exceeding its estimated value and highlighting growing demand for collectibles linked to the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. The jacket, which Jensen Huang wore during a 2023 event at Foxconn in Taipei, attracted 65 bids from 45 collectors before selling for nearly 16 times its estimated price of $40,000 to $60,000. Sotheby’s said the proceeds will support the Edge Institute, a nonprofit focused on innovation, through fellowships, grants and residency programs.
Leather jacket has become Jensen Huang’s signature look
Jensen Huang has been known for wearing black leather jackets for nearly two decades. He regularly appears in them at product launches, company events and technology conferences.The Nvidia CEO has joked about his style in the past. During a 2023 podcast, he said his wife and daughter choose his clothes. In a 2016 Reddit discussion, he described himself as “the guy in the leather jacket.”His trademark style has also caught the attention of other technology leaders. In 2024, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg swapped jackets with Huang in a sports-style “jersey swap.” Later that year, Huang handed Zuckerberg another jacket during a computer graphics conference, prompting Zuckerberg to joke, “This is worth more because it’s used.”
Jensen Huang’s leather jacket far exceeds auction estimate
The jacket sold on July 17 after attracting strong interest from collectors. Its final sale price of $960,000 was also far above its retail price of just under $10,000.Sotheby’s said Jensen Huang had signed and previously worn the jacket, making it especially valuable to collectors interested in technology and AI memorabilia. “The response to this sale surpassed even our highest expectations,” Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles, said in a statement.The auction house said 45 different collectors placed bids during the sale.