Suspicious Winning Bid of $2.25 Million USD Forces Halt of Doernbecher AJ1 "What The" Auction

According to the Oregon Health Science & University Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, the Nike Doernbecher Freestyle Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG “What The” auction has been halted due to suspicious bidding.

Kicking off with the auction was a one-of-one release complete with a custom lasered box that saw an alarming winning bid. Starting off slow in the low six-figures mark, a bid reportedly from Marcus Jordan, son of Michael Jordan, helped pushed the bidding to $690,000 USD. Before numerous suspicious bids came flooding in with one user even going by the name “Donald Trump.” 90 minutes before the end of bidding, the OHSU made bidding anonymous in hopes of stopping the suspicious activity with the auction ending with a winning bid of $2.25 million USD.

Currently, it is unclear if the one-of-one shoes were actually won as the hospital has launched an investigation into the bidding activity. With the investigation still pending the planned online auction for the sixteen remaining pairs has been postponed until further notice.

Since starting in 2003, Nike and the Doernbecher Freestyle event has raised more than $29 million USD for OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital to fund its efforts to protect the health of children in Oregon, southwest Washington and beyond.

Catch the official statement from the Oregon Health Science & University regarding Nike and the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital’s auction of the Doernbecher Freestyle Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG “What The” below.

Doernbecher Freestyle adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic by partnering with a reputable online auction vendor to coordinate Virtually Freestyle, the program’s first event and auction to take place solely online.

Out of an abundance of caution, the OHSU Foundation proactively halted the bidding process of Thursday’s Virtually Freestyle auction and is actively working to verify the authenticity of uncharacteristically high bids. We took these steps as added measures to existing security protocols.

The OHSU Foundation is committed to following best practices and ensuring a fair auction. Event attendees interested in submitting bids for Virtually Freestyle auction items, including a special Air Jordan 1 “What The” Doernbecher, were required to agree to a robust Terms and Conditions contract. Bidders were also required to register using a valid credit card number, as a part of the authentication process completed by the online auction vendor.

To allow us the necessary time to reaffirm the validity and security of this and future online bidding processes, we have postponed the online auction of the sixteen remaining pairs of the Air Jordan 1 “What The” Doernbecher previously scheduled to begin Friday, Feb. 26. We will share additional information regarding the status and availability of Virtually Freestyle auction items at a later date.

Doernbecher Freestyle fans, including those that joined us from across the globe for Thursday’s event, know how much the program means to the patients, families and staff at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. We are grateful to Nike, our community members, donors and sponsors for their support of OHSU Doernbecher, and the young patient-designers behind every Doernbecher Freestyle collection.

For more footwear news, rumors of an upcoming Supreme x Air Jordan 1 surface.