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☆ Read the pitch deck that helped AI adtech company Qortex raise $6 million, led by Nvidia and Samsung alumni
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Qortex, which uses AI to target ads in streaming TV, online video, and video games, said Monday it had raised a $6 million Series A round, led by GFT Ventures. Because Qortex's technology analyzes what's happening in the video frame-by-frame, it understands what's happening at a very granular level, said Rosenberg. For instance, Rosenberg said Qortex could help publishers identify strobing lights in video to remain ADA compliant, or quickly scan video archives to find specific content. While GFT has invested in about 10 companies so far Herbst said, Qortex is "one of the first and honestly one of my favorites." Check out select slides from the pitch deck that helped Qortex raise its $6 million Series A round.

Persons: Zack Rosenberg, Qortex, Rosenberg, Jeff Herbst, Herbst, Mark Pedowitz, Sid Mookerji, GFT Organizations: GFT Ventures, Silicon Road Ventures, Business, GFT, Nvidia, CW Network, Silicon, Ventures, NHL, Allstate

☆ Prices for a set of Messi’s World Cup jerseys could exceed a record $10 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

A set of six jerseys that he wore during last year’s World Cup, which his home country of Argentina won, are being put up for auction by Sotheby’s next week. That shirt currently holds the world record title of being the “most valuable item of sports memorabilia ever sold at auction,” according to the auction house. Bids were initially expected to range from $5 million to $7 million, perhaps signaling that Messi’s jersey prices could go higher. The online auction for Messi’s jerseys runs from November 30 to December 14 and will be displayed during that time in a free exhibition at Sotheby’s gallery in New York. His appearances sent MLS ticket prices skyrocketing and fans had trouble getting their hands on replica jerseys for several months.

Persons: Lionel Messi, Sotheby’s, Michael Jordan, Diego Maradona, ”, Brahm Wachter, Messi, Messi’s, Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, Germain Organizations: New, New York CNN — Soccer, France, FC Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Real, NFL, NBA, MLS, Inter Miami, Paris Saint, FIFA, Adidas Locations: New York, Argentina, Argentine, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Qatar

☆ From a homeless shelter to saving six figures and buying her first home: A 34-year-old opens up about her struggles with money and the 5 adjustments that changed her finances
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Ojekunle's debit card, which was linked to her parents' bank account, was declined after she attempted to pay for a few items at the grocery store. "That's like life-changing money," Ojekunle said. Becoming a big saverA big part of financial stability is psychological, and financial trauma is real, she noted. As she got into the habit of saving, she began transferring money directly to the account. According to a screenshot of her bank account viewed by Insider, she was also able to save over six figures before purchasing her home.

Persons: Niké Ojekunle, Ojekunle, I'm, Barnes, Noble, Rich Dad Poor Dad, spender, TikTok, lockdowns, I've Organizations: Business, Nissan, Apparel, Hyundai, Adidas, Food, Costco Locations: Los Angeles, Florida

☆ Grace Wales Bonner Has Set Her Sights Beyond Fashion
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Elizabeth Paton | More About Elizabeth Paton | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Grace Wales Bonner’s approach to fashion can sometimes feel more like that of an academic rather than a designer. Her collections for Wales Bonner, the brand she started in 2015, are informed by dazzlingly intensive research spanning critical theory, music, literature, history and mysticism. Her clever embrace of so many perspectives and personalities, and her proudly Afro-Atlantic approach to fashion, has made Ms. Wales Bonner, 33, an increasingly influential figure in field. This year, she began showing her collections in Paris, the creative and commercial epicenter of luxury fashion. But Ms. Wales Bonner is also a polymath with artistic ambitions outside fashion.

Persons: Grace Wales, Wales Bonner, Haile Selassie, James Baldwin, Theaster Gates, Man Ray, Alexander Calder, Moustapha Dimé, Terry Adkins Organizations: Adidas, Museum of Modern Art Locations: Harlem, Jamaica, Paris, New York, Betye Saar

☆ Colourful Euro 2024 ball to reflect energy of tournament, say organisers
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Soccer Football - Euro 2024 - Organisers Present the Official Match Ball - Maifeld, Berlin, Germany - November 15, 2023 General view of the Euro 2024 match ball 'Fussballliebe' REUTERS/Annegret Hilse Acquire Licensing RightsBERLIN, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Organisers of Euro 2024 on Wednesday unveiled the official ball for the continental tournament next year, with its colourful pattern designed to reflect the energy of the event and with built-in technology to assist in VAR decisions. Organisers said the design, featuring black wing shapes with colourful edges, curves and dots, was a reflection of the tournament's energy. Germany is hosting its first major international football tournament since the 2006 World Cup, which at the time had triggered an unprecedented wave of enthusiasm with large fan zones across the country and the event dubbed the "summer fairytale". Illustrations of each of the stadiums appear on the ball alongside the name of each host city. The ball also features some built-in technology to track all elements of its the movement and help with VAR decisions.

Persons: Annegret, Philipp Lahm, Manuel Neuer, Karolos, Christian Radnedge Organizations: Soccer Football, REUTERS, Rights, Wednesday, Adidas, Thomson Locations: Berlin, Germany

☆ Apple asked Amazon to block rival ads. Insider found evidence of this special treatment, while others suffer from 'junk ads'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Other companies's product pages are cluttered with a mix of ads and product recommendations from competitors or sometimes irrelevant brands. The latest Apple product pages on Amazon have none of this extra marketing. In contrast, Amazon search results for other brands, such as Samsung and Sony, show at least two or three sponsored ads from rivals. At the time, Apple also asked Amazon to make its product pages clean, without any non-Apple product recommendations. By providing "accurate, relevant and qualitative content on Apple Product pages," Apple has been able to address much of the counterfeit issues on Amazon, the iPhone maker said.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, Apple, Jeff Wilke, Kaziukenas, Amazon's, Wilke, Bose, it's, I'm, —, Bezos, Amazon Organizations: Amazon, Federal Trade Commission, Samsung Galaxy, Microsoft, Samsung, Apple, Sony, House, Committee, LG, Galaxy, FTC, Adidas

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicWarning: this episode contains some explicit language. When Adidas terminated its multibillion-dollar partnership with Kanye West over his antisemitic and other offensive public remarks, it seemed like a straightforward story of a celebrity’s suddenly imploding. But a New York Times examination has found that, behind the scenes, the collaboration was fraught from the start. Megan Twohey, an investigative reporter for The Times, talks about what she discovered when she delved into the meltdown.

Persons: Megan Twohey Organizations: Spotify, Adidas, Kanye West, New York, The Times

☆ A modern etiquette guide for group chats
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Michael Venutolo-Mantovani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

A recent poll of 1,005 US adults found the average American spends 26 minutes a day reading and responding to group chats. For us to survive and thrive as humans, it's time to agree on the Definitive Etiquette of the Group Chat. The ultimate appeal of group chats — their necessity, really — is that they've become the only social media that's actually social. Group chats can become overwhelming, of course, especially as they creep into other apps and especially as they often duplicate participants. Don't talk about the group chat outside the group chat.

Persons: who's, Sam Bankman, Fried, siphoning, Emily Post, they've, Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter, Hua Hsu, e Organizations: Bank, Democratic, Street, Wall, Mets, New York Giants, Facebook, Adidas, Nazi, Yorker Locations: Bankman, Silicon, Indonesia, American, Business, Politics, Netherlands, Rome, Tucson, le

☆ Adidas sees Samba shoes driving more interest from retailers
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Helen Reid | Thomson Reuters | London-Based Reporter Covering The European Retail Sector Through A Global Lens. Focusing On Companies Including Adidas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Inventory levels were down 23% year-on-year at 4.85 billion euros ($5.18 billion), a little more than expected, Adidas said. Adidas' gross margin for the quarter was up 0.2 percentage points at 49.3%, helped by reduced freight costs and fewer discounts. "Adidas' competitive position compared to Nike is improving," said Robert Schramm-Fuchs, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson, which holds Adidas shares. "Adidas needs to earn back the shelf space, but I think they have the right product to do it," he said. Adidas' sales in Greater China grew by 5.7% in currency-adjusted terms, a slowdown after growth of 16.4% in the second quarter.

Persons: Tingshu Wang, Bjorn Gulden, Kanye West, Ye, Spezial, Gulden, Robert Schramm, Fuchs, Janus Henderson, Schramm, Adam Cochrane, Miranda Murray, Helen Reid, Maria Sheahan, Sherry Jacob, Phillips, Catherine Evans Organizations: Adidas, REUTERS, Apparel, Nike, Deutsche Bank . Currency, Reuters Graphics, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, United States, North America, Greater China, Berlin

[1/5] Garment workers come out of a factory during lunch hours at the Ashulia area, outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, November 8, 2023. A panel of factory owners, union leaders and officials agreed to the increase unanimously, said Siddiqur Rahman, the owners' representative. "We continue to recommend that the government of Bangladesh adopt an annual minimum wage review mechanism to keep up with changing macroeconomic factors," the letter said. In addition to the wage increase, the government has said that workers would be given a 5% annual increment. Babul Akter, president of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation, urged global brands to pay more, saying: "There could be some problems for the owners to cope with the increased salaries."

Persons: Mohammad Ponir Hossain, Siddiqur Rahman, Rahman, Inditex, Hugo Boss, Fazlul Hoque, Hoque, Levi Strauss, Armour, Sheikh Hasina, Akter, Abdus Salam Murshedy, Murshedy, Krishna N, Ruma Paul, Miral Organizations: REUTERS, Rights DHAKA, Reuters, Inc, Knitwear Manufacturers, Association, Labour, Abercrombie & Fitch, Adidas, Puma, Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation, Envoy Group, Walmart, Hasina's Awami League, Das, Thomson Locations: Dhaka, Bangladesh, DELHI, China, Zara, Ukraine, New Delhi

☆ How Adidas, Asics, and other shoemakers deal with waste
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Kevin Reilly | Manuel Silva-Paulus | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

More than 50 billion shoes are made every year. The biggest manufacturers, like Nike, Adidas, and Asics, make them durable enough to run hundreds of miles. But this also makes them incredibly expensive and difficult to recycle. Now, one Dutch company, FastFeetGrinded, has developed a method to combat waste while the industry searches for more sustainable materials.

Organizations: Nike, Adidas

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Adidas said it might have to write off the remaining 300 million euros ($320 million) worth of Yeezy shoes left unsold after it cut ties with rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. The company included the possible write-off of the remaining Yeezy inventory in its outlook Wednesday for its earnings this year, narrowing its expected loss to 100 million euros from an earlier prediction of 450 million euros, thanks in part to the earlier two releases of Yeezy shoes. CEO Bjorn Gulden, who took over after the Yeezy breakup, is leading an effort to recover from the loss of the profitable Yeezy business. He declined to say what the company would do with the shoes if they remain unsold. The breakup with Ye left the company, based in Herzogenaurach, Germany, with 1.2 billion euros worth of unsold Yeezys and searching for a responsible way to dispose of them.

Persons: —, Ye, Philonise Floyd, George Floyd, Bjorn Gulden, Gulden, ” Organizations: — Adidas, Kanye, Adidas, Defamation League, Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Locations: FRANKFURT, Germany, Israel, Gaza, Herzogenaurach

European markets are heading for a negative open, continuing negative momentum since the start of the week. Corporate earnings continue to drive individual share price movement in Europe. Commerzbank, Credit Agricole, Marks and Spencer, Telefonica, Adidas and ABN Amro all reported Wednesday morning. Elsewhere overnight, most Asia-Pacific markets edged lower, extending declines from the previous session, while Japanese blue-chip stocks stayed afloat after a positive business sentiment survey. U.S. stock futures were flat overnight after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite notched their longest winning streaks in about two years.

Organizations: Credit, Telefonica, Adidas, ABN Amro, Nasdaq Locations: Europe, Spencer, Asia, Pacific

☆ Morning Bid: Waiting for word from the Fed chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell answers a question at a press conference following a closed two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy at the Federal Reserve in Washington, U.S., November 1, 2023. Last week's surprisingly soft jobs data heightened expectations that interest rates had peaked, but Fed commentary since then has warned against complacency in the fight against inflation. For now, investors have dialled up wagers on near-term rate cuts, with the Fed funds rate showing better than 50/50 odds for one as early as May. In Asia time, long-term Treasury yields are stuck around 4.58% and the dollar is biding its time around $1.07 per euro. While the Fed outlook dominates investors' attention, there is plenty of central bank speak in store from Europe as well.

Persons: Jerome Powell, Kevin Lamarque, Kevin Buckland, Jay Powell, Christine Lagarde, Philip Lane, Joachim Nagel, Pablo Hernandez de Cos, Andrew Bailey, Fed's Powell, Lagarde, BoE's Bailey, Edmund Klamann Organizations: Federal, Committee, Federal Reserve, REUTERS, Kevin, Kevin Buckland Markets, Reuters Graphics, Bank of Spain, Bank of England, Adidas, Airbus, Bayer, Continental, Credit Agricole, Federal Reserve Division of Research, Statistics, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Asia, Europe, Germany, Brussels, Irish

The lawsuits said that several New Balance athletic shoes and Skechers sneakers misuse Nike's patented "Flyknit" technology for running, soccer and basketball shoes. Nike has previously sued Adidas (ADSGn.DE), Puma (PUMG.DE) and Lululemon (LULU.O) for infringing Flyknit patents. Representatives for Nike, New Balance and Skechers did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Monday lawsuits. Nike sued Manhattan Beach, California-based Skechers in Los Angeles, claiming that shoes, including Skechers' Ultra Flex and Glide Step brands, infringed on its patents. Nike asked the courts for an unspecified amount of money damages and court orders permanently blocking New Balance and Skechers from infringing the patents.

Persons: Carlo Allegri, Lululemon, Skechers, Blake Brittain, David Bario, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Nike, REUTERS, Footwear, New, Adidas, Puma, Boston, Manhattan, Thomson Locations: New York , New York, U.S, Beaverton , Oregon, Massachusetts, Manhattan Beach , California, Los Angeles, Washington

☆ New York City Marathon: ‘Super shoes’ have ‘blown distance running into a new stratosphere.’ Are they benefitting the sport?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesThe two records in quick succession heightened the debate about how carbon-plated shoes – commonly referred to as “super shoes” – are rapidly changing the distance-running landscape. Today, they are worn by virtually all elite marathon runners, both for racing and for training, and by many casual runners, too. Tobias Schwartz/AFP/Getty ImagesThompson has other reservations about super shoes. “A lot of people say, well, people recover faster from training in the super shoes and therefore they can do more training, better training,” he added. “What I believe I’m seeing is that those who train all the time in super shoes will reduce their body’s ability to optimize biokinetic energy production.

Persons: Assefa, Bjørn Gulden, Kelvin Kiptum, Eliud Kipchoge, Michael Reaves, Peter Thompson, what’s, ” Thompson, … who’s, who’s, Thompson, hadn’t, I’ve, ”, Luciano Lima, “, ” Thomas Allen, Tobias Schwarz, Sifan Hassan, Chicago –, haven’t, ” Tim Hutchings, ” Hutchings, they’re, it’s, It’s, Jaroslav Svoboda, Hutchings, “ We’re, Eliud, Tobias Schwartz, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, Berlin Marathon, Adidas –, Chicago Marathon, Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Getty, Berlin, Runners, Manchester Metropolitan University, World Athletics, York City Marathon, Puma, Athletics Locations: Berlin, Chicago, Great Britain, Prague, York

☆ Zalando cuts 2023 sales forecast as demand stays weak
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Helen Reid | Thomson Reuters | London-Based Reporter Covering The European Retail Sector Through A Global Lens. Focusing On Companies Including Adidas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Zalando packaging from an online delivery is seen discarded in a cardboard box in Galway, Ireland, August 27, 2020. Zalando now expects 2023 revenue to fall between 0.5% and 3%, having previously guided to a 1% decline at worst. An unusually warm September weighed on sales of autumn and winter clothes, Zalando said, exacerbating the impact of weak consumer sentiment. Gross merchandise volume - a measure of sales on the platform by Zalando and partner brands - fell by 2.4% from a year ago. The company's market value has dropped over the past two years as shoppers, freed from pandemic restrictions, returned to stores and ordered fewer clothes online.

Persons: Clodagh, Zalando, Clément Génelot, Bryan Garnier, Zalando's, Génelot, Gross, Helen Reid, Christian Schmollinger, Sonali Paul Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Galway, Ireland, Paris, Germany, Austria, Switzerland

☆ Is a $500 Marathon Shoe You Can Race In Only Once Worth It?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Santul Nerkar | More About Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Ashley Mateo went through a recent track workout, something felt different. She hit her intervals faster than usual, her heart rate was lower, and her feet felt lighter. Ms. Mateo, a journalist and 15-time marathoner who reviews running shoes, believes she may have improved her performance thanks to the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 by Adidas, a new marathon race shoe with an eye-popping $500 price tag. “I don’t think the shoe is going to work for everyone,” she said. Only 521 pairs have been released to the public so far, targeted at runners who can run a marathon in 3 hours 30 minutes or faster.

Persons: Ashley Mateo, Mateo, Mateo isn’t, “, ” Organizations: Adidas

☆ Adidas Sambas Became This Year’s Unlikely Hit Sneaker
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Trefor Moss | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This year’s must-have sneaker is a shoe so old it was launched in the former West Germany while the U.S. was still enacting the Marshall Plan. Ever since its invention as a soccer shoe in 1950 and subsequent evolution into a casual sneaker, the Adidas Samba has drifted in and out of fashion, without ever quite going away.

Organizations: Adidas Locations: West Germany, U.S

☆ Retro Sambas Help Adidas Forge a Future Without Kanye
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Trefor Moss | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Organizations: Adidas Locations: West Germany, U.S

☆ Adidas and Puma eye chances in soccer's fashion moment
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Helen Reid | Thomson Reuters | London-Based Reporter Covering The European Retail Sector Through A Global Lens. Focusing On Companies Including Adidas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

One Premiership team has hired a creative director to expand its apparel offering, while Adidas in September launched an "exclusively off-pitch" apparel collection for some of the big-name teams it sponsors. "The love-in between football and fashion is only just beginning," said Richard Busby, CEO at sponsorship consultancy BDS Sponsorship. In August, Crystal Palace hired Kenny Annan-Jonathan as creative director focused on apparel. "We are experiencing hype around football jerseys and general designs influenced by football culture across streetwear and fashion," said Puma's global creative director Heiko Desens. "There's a risk of tension with existing fans whenever you start moving beyond the core culture," said Athens Kallithea's president and creative director, Ted Philipakos.

Persons: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake, Kim Kardashian, Richard Busby, Mary Earps, Busby, Kardashian, Germain, Mia Regan, Kenny Annan, Jonathan, GlobalData, Heiko Desens, Puma, popstar, cleats, Pele, Rihanna, Graham Renwick, Prada, Ted Philipakos, Philipakos, Helen Reid, Catherine Evans Organizations: Soccer Football, FIFA, England, Soccer, LONDON, Adidas, Puma, Nike, Greek, Athens Kallithea, Paris Saint, Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Premier League club, FOOTBALL, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Manchester United, Real, Liverpool, Newcastle United, Italy's Venezia FC, Athens Kallithea's, Premier League, Bundesliga, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, Spain, Australia, Sydney, Brazilian, Real Madrid, Italian, Athens

☆ Kanye West drew a swastika at a Yeezy meeting with Adidas and told a Jewish manager to kiss a photo of Hitler, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

More details of Kanye West's conduct during his partnership with Adidas were revealed by The New York Times. The rapper drew a swastika on a shoe design and told a Jewish employee to kiss a photo of Hitler, per the Times. In another detail of his troubling antisemitic behaviour, Ye told one Jewish manager at the company to kiss a picture of Hitler every day. The last Adidas Yeezy restock AdidasAdidas CEO Bjørn Gulden has defended Ye, saying that the rapper had been misunderstood. The company told the Times it had "no tolerance for hate speech and offensive behavior, which is why the company terminated the Adidas Yeezy partnership."

Persons: Kanye, Hitler, Ye, —, Adidas Yeezy, Bjørn Gulden Organizations: Adidas, The New York Times, Times, Service, New York Times, Adidas Adidas Locations: Germany

☆ The Adidas team working with Kanye West was given subscriptions to a meditation app and regularly had group-therapy-like sessions to deal with the stress
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Alex Bitter | Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kanye West was reportedly so difficult to deal with that it took a toll on the Adidas team working with him. A New York Times investigation found that the team had to have group therapy-like sessions to deal with the stress. AdvertisementAdvertisementMembers of the Adidas team working with Kanye West were given a subscription to a meditation app and regularly had group therapy-like sessions to deal with the stress of working with the rapper, a New York Times investigation found. They were also given a subscription to a meditation app and regularly held group therapy-like sessions, the outlet reported. In 2013, the year that Adidas and Ye unveiled their partnership, the brand's sales in North America were down 1%.

Persons: Kanye, —, Ye, Hitler, Eric Liedtke, Liedtke Organizations: Adidas, New York Times, West, Service, Kanye, Times, TMZ Locations: North America

☆ Investigating Kanye
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Megan Twohey | More About Megan Twohey | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Adidas ended its wildly lucrative shoe deal with Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, a year ago, the breakup appeared to be the culmination of weeks of his inflammatory remarks about Jews and Black Lives Matter. But our examination found that behind the scenes, the partnership was fraught from the start. The partnership, which began in 2013, boosted company profits and made West a billionaire. He later told a Jewish Adidas manager to kiss a portrait of Hitler every day. And West told Adidas colleagues that he admired Hitler’s command of propaganda.

Persons: Kanye West, Ye, it’s, Hitler Organizations: Adidas, Kanye, West Locations: West, Germany

☆ Inside Kanye West’s Fraught Relationship With Adidas: 7 Takeaways
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Megan Twohey | More About Megan Twohey | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

When Adidas cut ties with Kanye West a year ago, ending their wildly lucrative shoe deal, the breakup appeared to be the culmination of weeks of his inflammatory remarks about Jews and Black Lives Matter. But a New York Times examination found that behind the scenes, the partnership was fraught from the start. Mr. West, who now goes by Ye, subjected employees to antisemitic and crude sexual comments and routine verbal abuse. As Adidas executives doubled down on a partnership that boosted company profits and made Mr. West a billionaire, they scrambled for ways to cope with the star’s demands and provocations. Interviews with current and former employees of Adidas and of Mr. West, along with hundreds of previously undisclosed internal records, including contracts, text messages and financial documents, provide the fullest accounting yet of the relationship.

Persons: Ye, West Organizations: Adidas, Kanye West, New York Times

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