Why Reebok’s founder is taking on the new footwear trade war

Reebok co-founder Joe Foster and young entrepreneur Ben Weiss are looking to disrupt the status quo in the footwear industry by creating the Syntilay brand. The footwear brand began making AI-created sneakers earlier this year with no sizes and a $150 price tag, and is attempting to use its learnings to scale up its business model. Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi talks on the Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast with Reebok co-founder Joe Foster and Syntilay CEO Ben Weiss. Foster co-founded Reebok in 1958 and exited the business in 1991. That’s after a stretch creating some of the world’s pre-eminent running sneakers, going toe to toe with the likes of Nike (NKE) and Adidas (ADS.DE). Reebok found initial success in female aerobic gyms following its shoes being worn by Jane Fonda. In the years since Foster’s exit, Adidas purchased Reebok for $3.8 billion and sold it to Authentic Brands Group for $2.5 billion in 2022 after years of underperformance. Today, the brand is aiming to reestablish itself in the basketball sneaker market amid the backing of NBA greats Allen Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered brings you a high-octane take on the freshest analyst calls, wildest stock moves, and shrewdest commentary in the business world. Executive Editor Brian Sozzi puts Wall Street's finest through their paces in this essential conversation for every investor, before the stock market opens. Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid Unfiltered at http://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Please email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered is hosted by Brian Sozzi and produced by Langston Sessoms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices