Kanye West is trending again. This time it’s for being worth a reported $6.6 billion, multiple outlets began reporting this week. Thanks to his Yeezy brand, the hip-hop artist and fashion mogul’s businesses are now worth multiple billions, Bloomberg reported, which a widely amplified People magazine article extrapolated to mean the Chicago native is worth $6.6 billion. However, Forbes said the estimates are wrong.
In an article published Wednesday, March 17, Bloomberg reported “West’s sneaker and apparel business with Adidas AG and Gap Inc., is valued at $3.2 billion to $4.7 billion by UBS Group AG,” a globally respected financial services firm. They added the new Gap collaboration could also “be worth as much as $970 million of that total.”
The publication said the information is based on a private document it obtained, and West’s upcoming summer line could make as much as $150 million in sales in 2022.
Those numbers, combined with other assets provided on a balance sheet from West’s lawyer — which include $122 million in cash and stock, a music catalog worth $110.5 million, and what People magazine identified as $1.7 billion in other assets — is where the $6.6 billion valuation comes from.
The number is a major increase from the reported $1.26 billion Forbes valued West’s net worth at in 2019. It also led to West trending on social when many — including conservative provocateur Candace Owens — proclaiming West as the richest Black man in America.
Initially, Forbes followed suit, publishing an article entitled “Kanye West Might Now Be the Richest Black Man In American History Thanks To Yeezy.” It was quickly deleted, however, and now a new article from the publication says the reports about West’s financial standing are inaccurate.
Entitled “No, Kanye West Is Not The Richest Black Person In America – Here’s Why,” the most recent article details why the numerous reports about West having a $6.6 billionaire status are inflated.
“It’s not true, based on our calculations. Forbes estimates he’s worth less than a third of that, or $1.8 billion. That’s a big jump from last May when Forbes first pegged his net worth to be $1.3 billion, but nowhere near as much as the purported $6.6 billion,” Forbes reported. “Vista Equity’s Robert F. Smith remains the richest Black person in the U.S., worth an estimated $6 billion, while Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, worth $11.8 billion, is the richest Black person in the world.”
Forbes went on to write it reviewed the same documents as Bloomberg, but refrained from making “a number of assumptions based on projected future earnings.”
West — who is currently in the midst of a divorce from his wife Kim Kardashian — has been mostly silent on his social channels since November. He has not commented publicly on the news, which is unusual for West, who accused Forbes of snubbing him when he was left off its 2020 billionaire list.
After claiming he was worth over $3.3 billion, and providing documentation meant to back up his claim, West was incensed when Forbes published its more conservative $1.3 billion estimate. The outlet reported after the article’s publication that West sent them a message that said, “It’s not a billion. It’s $3.3 billion since no one at Forbes knows how to count.”
