Kanye West has been dropped from the billionaires’ club after his net worth fell below the $1 billion mark, according to Forbes’ latest estimates. This was after German sneaker brand Adidas cut ties with him following a series of controversial comments on Twitter.
West, who has legally changed his name to Ye, had a multi-year deal with Adidas to design his trainer brand Yeezy. On Tuesday, the footwear manufacturer cut ties with him after initially saying the deal was under review.
The suspension of the deal means that Adidas would end the production of Yeezy-branded products. Adidas will also stop all payments to West and his companies with “immediate effect” for “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous” hate speech from the artist.
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According to Forbes, West’s deal with Adidas account for $1.5 billion of his net worth. “With that gone, Ye is no longer a billionaire,” says Forbes. “It caps a stunning, self-induced downfall for one of the brashest and most volatile personalities to have graced Forbes’ pages.”
The magazine further estimates West’s current net worth to be around $400 million, down from nearly $2 billion. “Losing Adidas was the final nail in Ye’s net-worth coffin”, says Forbes, adding: “Now the road has ended.”
What remains of the rapper’s financial empire is his “real estate, cash, his music catalogue, and a 5% stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s shapewear firm, Skims.”
Aside from Adidas, other brands have severed ties with West. Balenciaga announced that it was ending its relationship with West in the wake of his anti-semitic remarks and “White Lives Matter” shirt.
“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.
Production company MRC and Creative Artists Agency have also cut ties with him. Also, Gap has announced that it’s removing Yeezy products from shelves and production and closed the rapper’s Yeezy Gap online store. Spotify, on the other hand, has 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” earlier this month, 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 billion following the impressive success of his businesses in 2021. He has a sneaker and apparel business, making him one of the most successful celebrities in the world.
