Who Bought Kanye West’s Grammy Shoes For $1.8 Million

Kanye West’s 2008 Nike Air Yeezy 1 sneakers just went for insane money, but who really bought them?

Those sneakers went for $1.8 million at auction. Plenty of people wondered who would dig that deep to pay for Yeezy’s shoes, not to mention who had that kind of cash to begin with.

The man who now owns Kanye’s shoes is Gerome Sapp, CEO and co-founder of RARES, a sneaker investment app. This app allows users to buy and sell shares of their favorite sneakers available on the app. Sapp is also a former NFL cornerback, so that is where he got the money to start this venture.

Sapp is obviously a life-long sneakerhead and he put his money where his mouth is in this instance. $1.8 million is a lot to drop on anything, let alone shoes. Sapp told The Shade Room all about this big purchase.

“The Nike Air Yeezy 1 prototype not only means a lot to the sneaker culture, but it meant a lot to me personally. I retired from the NFL in 2008 and was wondering what was next with my life. When I saw Kanye and Nike unveil these sneakers at the 2008 Grammys, aside from being dope, they represented a new age of independence, a beginning of something bigger to come. That is exactly what RARES represents to my team and I now. So when the opportunity was presented to acquire this all-time favorite grail, I hopped on it. I felt that this 1 of 1 grail didn’t belong in a museum or a museum environment, it needed to be securitized and split into affordable shares so that anyone who loved these sneakers and the culture around what made these sneakers hot, could invest in them. One equity share at a time.”

Some people like to have nice watches or cars. Sapp spent more than most houses ever dream of costing on a pair of sneakers. At least he’s living his brand as a true sneakerhead and owning his role atop this the RARES sneaker app.