The price for the Allbirds brand was $39 million. The inventory it came with was worth $43 million, per Wikipedia’s summary of the March 30, 2026 announcement. Five years earlier, on the day it listed on Nasdaq, the company Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger built was worth $4.1 billion.
At a glance
| Brand | Allbirds, San Francisco footwear, first shoe March 2016 |
| Founders | Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger |
| Buyer | American Exchange Group, with WSG Brands |
| Price | $39 million for the shoe business, IP and related assets |
| Peak value | $4.1 billion, IPO day, November 2021 |
| Founders’ roles at sale | Neither was running the company |
A wool shoe and a Kickstarter
Brown is a former New Zealand international footballer, an All White, per 1News. He started the project in 2014 with a grant from New Zealand’s wool industry and raised $119,000 on Kickstarter in five days, per Wikipedia. He then teamed up with Joey Zwillinger, a San Francisco biotech engineer, and the Wool Runner launched in March 2016. It became the shoe of a certain kind of Silicon Valley worker; 1News lists Barack Obama and Leonardo DiCaprio among its wearers.
The money followed. Allbirds raised a $50 million Series C in October 2018 at a $1.4 billion valuation, and more than $200 million in total before going public, per Wikipedia.
The listing and the slide
Allbirds listed on Nasdaq on November 3, 2021. On its first day its market value was about $4.1 billion, 1News reports, citing Bloomberg. Sales started falling in 2022. In 2023 Brown stepped down as co-CEO and stayed on as a director. In March 2024 Zwillinger was replaced as CEO by chief operating officer Joe Vernachio and also stayed on the board, per Wikipedia. That April Nasdaq warned the company that its shares had traded below $1 for 30 days, and a 1-for-20 reverse split followed in September 2024.
By the end of March 2026 the stock closed at $2.98, giving the company a market value of $24.5 million and a fall of 99.5% from the listing, per 1News.
The sale, and the shell
A committee of independent directors negotiated the sale and the board approved it unanimously, per 1News. American Exchange Group, a privately held New York firm that buys and relaunches undervalued footwear, jewellery and lifestyle brands, would take the IP and certain assets and liabilities, with net proceeds to be distributed to shareholders after wind-down costs. Inside Retail reported in June that the deal was done in partnership with WSG Brands, which will run brand management and licensing while AEG handles design and manufacturing.
The listed company then did something else entirely. On April 15 it announced it would rename itself NewBird AI and become a “fully integrated GPU-as-a-Service and AI-native cloud solutions provider,” backed by a $50 million convertible facility, TechCrunch reported. The shoes and the ticker parted ways.
We found no public statement from either founder on the sale.
What founders can take from it
- A peak market value is not a price. $4.1 billion was the market’s view for one day. What the brand fetched in an actual sale was 1% of that.
- Stepping back early does not protect the brand. Both founders left the top job years before the sale, and neither was in the room for the decision.
- The buyer of a fallen brand is buying the name, not the company. AEG and WSG took the IP and the inventory and left the listed company behind.
Related founders
- Michael Preysman Built Everlane. Shein Bought It Without Him.: another San Francisco direct-to-consumer apparel brand sold in 2026, far below its peak.
- Dennis Crowley Says Foursquare’s Sale Paid Equity Holders Nothing: a founder watching from outside as a once-hot company sold for little.
- Daniel Patiño Bought Salad and Go Back for $180,000: what a brand name alone can sell for once the company behind it fails.
Sourcing: the $39 million price, the buyer description, independent-committee process, unanimous approval, closing and proceeds timing, Tim Brown’s background and 2023 step-down, the $4.1 billion IPO-day value, the $2.98 close, $24.5 million market value and 99.5% fall (the last three citing Bloomberg) are per 1News (April 1, 2026). The $43 million inventory figure, the 2014 Kickstarter, the 2016 Wool Runner launch, the 2018 Series C, total funding, the 2021 listing date, Zwillinger’s March 2024 replacement, the Nasdaq notice and the reverse split are per Wikipedia’s Allbirds article. The WSG Brands partnership is per Inside Retail (Kaycee Enerva, June 18, 2026). The NewBird AI rename and financing are per TechCrunch (Sarah Perez, April 15, 2026). No portrait is used.
Frequently asked
Who bought Allbirds?
American Exchange Group, a privately held New York company, agreed on March 30, 2026 to buy Allbirds' shoe business, intellectual property and related assets for $39 million, per 1News and TechCrunch. Inside Retail reports it completed the deal in partnership with WSG Brands, and the two jointly own the brand.
How much was Allbirds worth at its peak?
About $4.1 billion, on the day of its Nasdaq IPO in November 2021, per 1News citing Bloomberg. Its last private valuation, after a $50 million Series C in October 2018, was $1.4 billion, per Wikipedia.
What happened to Allbirds' founders?
Tim Brown stepped down as co-CEO in May 2023 and stayed on as a director, per 1News. Joey Zwillinger was replaced as CEO by COO Joe Vernachio in March 2024 and remained on the board, per Wikipedia. We found no public statement from either founder on the 2026 sale.
Is Allbirds now an AI company?
The brand is not. After agreeing to sell the shoe business, the listed company announced on April 15, 2026 that it would rename itself NewBird AI and offer GPU computing capacity, with a $50 million convertible financing facility, per TechCrunch. The Allbirds shoe brand went to American Exchange Group and WSG Brands.
