KANYE West really, really wants to be in Forbes’ billionaires list.
The publication’s staff writer Zack O'Malley Greenburg has detailed the many passive aggressive ways the rapper and shoe mogul has pestered Forbes about his inclusion in the list of people who are worth 10 figures (and more). This includes personal texts where West accuses Greenburg of “purposely snubbing me.”
Such was his fixation that at an innovation festival sponsored by Fast Company, he said: “When people say it’s crass to call yourself a billionaire, I might legally change my name to Christian Genius Billionaire Kanye West for a year until y’all understand exactly what it is.”
Greenburg noted that only two people have been this kulit about getting into the billionaire list: Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal and US president Donald Trump.
“When viewed through that lens, his famous affinity for President Trump makes a lot of sense,” Greenburg wrote wryly.
But this week, West had enough. He instructed his team to send to Forbes “an authentic numeric look into Kanye, Inc.” — a complete statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth that Forbes experts pored over.
Their findings? West is worth $1.3 billion.
One important finding for sneakerheads: West reportedly earns more from Yeezys than Jordan does from Air Jordan.
Based on sources and internal documents, Forbes estimated that adidas’ Yeezys earned around $1.3 billion last year. (Adidas did not return Forbes' request for comment.)
West gets around 11% in royalties (15%, officially, but Forbes subtracted the expenses). That means the shoe giant cut the rapper a check for $140 million (or P7.1 billion). That’s $10 million more than Forbes’ estimate of Jordan’s 2019 royalties from Air Jordan.
Greenburg praised Kanye for this: “West, in just a few years, has created a brand that’s challenging Nike’s Air Jordan for sneaker world supremacy,” he said. “It’s one of the great retail stories of the century.”
It’s West’s complicated stake in Yeezys (he owns 100 percent of it, but adidas produces, markets, and distributes the brand) that make up a bulk of his wealth, wrote Greenburg.
His other financial (and actual) interests — rapping and lavish homes — are mostly negligible, at least compared to the overall $1.3 billion figure. (His record label is worth around $90 million, and his SALN declared $81 million in buildings and improvements and $21 million in land.) Forbes also saw that he was around $100 million in debt, mostly due to “mortgages, advances, and other liabilities.”
The rapper was reportedly not happy with the final $1.3 billion figure, and texted the staff: “It’s $3.3 billion since no one at Forbes knows how to count.”
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