Kanye West is experiencing a surge in his net worth after a series of anti-Semitic tweets resulted in businesses halting their association with him, causing him to drop from the exclusive club of black billionaires.
According to sources, the “Gold Digger” rapper lost an estimated $1.4 billion of his net worth after Adidas cut ties with his brand, Yeezy, following his anti-semitic comments on Oct 20, 2022. The suspension of the deal meant that Adidas would end the production of Yeezy-branded products. The sportswear brand also stopped all payments to West and his companies with “immediate effect” for “unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous” hate speech from the artist.
His deal with Adidas accounted for $1.5 billion of his net worth. “With that gone, Ye is no longer a billionaire,” Forbes wrote when the deal was canceled. “It caps a stunning, self-induced downfall for one of the brashest and most volatile personalities to have graced Forbes’ pages.”
According to Forbes’ latest calculation of his net worth, West, who now goes by the name Ye, saw his net worth surge by $2 million within a month. His fortune moved from $398 million on March 23 to $400 million as of Apr 19, 2023. He had experienced a temporary dip of $2 million in his fortune, Billionaires Africa reported.
Currently, his net worth is estimated at $400 million, as per Forbes estimates, and includes his real estate holdings, cash, a music catalog, and a five-percent stake in Skims, the shapewear company founded by his ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
Aside from Adidas, other brands have severed ties with the rapper, including luxury fashion brand, Balenciaga. “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” Kering, the parent company for the French fashion house, noted in a statement to Women’s Wear Daily.
The production company, MRC and Creative Artists Agency also cut ties with the artist, while Gap removed Yeezy products from its shelves and production, and closed the rapper’s Yeezy Gap online store. On the other hand, Spotify openly criticized West’s remarks but shied away from taking action against him.
West tweeted to say he was “going death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE” in October 2022, before alleging he was not “Anti-Semitic because black people are actually Jew also”. In response, Twitter and Instagram restricted his accounts.
The rapper and entrepreneur became a certified billionaire following the impressive success of his businesses in 2021. He owns a sneaker and apparel business, making him one of the most successful celebrities in the world.
