How Bombas Built a Fancy Socks Empire With $500 Million in Sales

When Dave Heath and Randy Goldberg met in 2007, “it could have gone one of two ways,” Heath says. “Either best friends or archnemeses.”  Their relationship survived the tight quarters. Heath and Goldberg became best friends—and, more surprisingly, sock moguls.

The pair are co-founders of Bombas LLC, the sock company that’s moved from cult following to mainstream accessory-maker over the last 12 years. Millions of people wear their Bombas every day to the office and gym; custom silk-embellished Bombas were even showcased on the illustrious Met Gala red carpet in May on the feet of White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood. The company has expanded from cushy socks into T-shirts, slippers, underwear and what Goldberg says women report is “the only bra that I’ve ever actually been able to fall asleep in.”  Bombas says it’s on track to make around $500 million in revenue in 2025, an unspecified “double-digit increase” from the previous year.

While the company’s startup period is behind it, Bombas’ Manhattan office still exudes the optimistic abundance of early days and fresh money. With exposed brick walls and endless glass panels, the space sports towering potted plants, cold brew on tap and pensive employees perched on high stools, contemplating dozens of potential sock colors. One massive wall is pinned with hundreds of socks, ranging from “casual” to “merino” to “compression” to “house” to a glittery trio labeled “fuzzy.”  Before Bombas, “we had never spent five minutes in our entire life thinking about socks,” says Goldberg, 47, who serves as chief brand officer.

The idea for Bombas came about toward the end of their stints at UrbanDaddy, when the soon-to-be founders decided they needed to come up with a business of their own. In 2011, Heath read on social media that socks were the most requested item in homeless shelters. In a bout of spontaneous altruism that also served as their first unofficial market research, the friends started purchasing generic white tube socks in 12-packs and giving them out to people on the street who were clearly in need.

So they decided to start a sock company—selling really good socks—where for every pair purchased, another pair is donated, akin to the models Toms Shoes and Warby Parker had earlier popularized with shoes and eyeglasses, respectively. The socks are also covered by a “happiness guarantee,” and unlike the lifetime warranties offered by competitors like Darn Tough, it doesn’t require the onerous task of mailing old pairs back. The policy was inspired by brands like L.L. Bean Inc. and Patagonia Inc., which have fostered customer loyalty with generous return policies.

As they developed the business plan, it didn’t hurt that the “godfather of socks” also happened to be Heath’s actual godfather. The man, whom the executives declined to name because he’s not publicly involved with Bombas, had spent 40 years in the hosiery business, becoming president of Gold Toe Brands Inc. before starting a private sock manufacturing company that licensed its products to brands such as Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. Giving the kind of leg up other companies could only dream about, the retired sock expert offered to walk Heath and Goldberg into what Heath says he described as the “best factories in the world.”

Although they hadn’t thought much about selling socks before, Goldberg and Heath, like many people with feet, had worn them for decades, and they had thoughts about what could be improved. The toe seam, for instance, typically creates an uncomfortable ridge at the tip. In their early fact-finding, the partners discovered that to replace it with a hand-linked seam would cost an additional 3¢ a sock. That sounds like nothing, but in an industry where one pair of socks typically cost pennies to make, it was huge. With other comfort-minded features including a cushioned sole, blister protection and arch support, Bombas socks wound up costing around $1.25 a pair to produce in their initial 2013 iterations.   These days, single pairs retail for about $14 to $40 on the company’s website, with many 6- or 8-packs costing close to $100. In addition to quality and comfort, customers feel better about paying those prices because of the donation policy, the founders say. So far, Bombas has given more than 150 million products, including t-shirts and underwear, to people experiencing homelessness across the US.

In 2014, Heath and Goldberg went on Shark Tank and negotiated a $200,000 investment from Daymond John for a 17.5% stake in Bombas.  With that seed money, Bombas continued to grow.  Still, there are challenges ahead. Like almost any US retailer, Bombas has been affected by President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which make it more expensive to manufacture and import products.

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