Kanye West is an American musician, entrepreneur and one of the few richest self-made Blacks in U.S. history. One of the top Grammy winners in history, West rose to fame in 2004 when he released The College Dropout album. Since then, he has been a celebrated music icon.
His early earnings came from his music, concerts and royalties until he ventured into entrepreneurship, which catapulted him to billionaire status. Face2Face Africa previously reported that West has income coming from his $110 million music catalog.
His exact net worth has been a subject of controversy. While Bloomberg says he has a net worth of $6.6 billion, Forbes puts his net worth at $1.6 billion.
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West owns a number of businesses which has made him one of the few Black billionaires in the world. His businesses cut across various sectors but largely concentrated in the fashion industry.
He is the founder of the sneaker/apparel brand Yeezy. He started the brand in partnership with Adidas and according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg, the brand is worth between $3.2 billion and $4.7 billion.
The African-American rapper owns a 100% stake in Yeezy and also has a partnership with The Gap which is valued at $1 billion, according to Bloomberg. West has also designed footwear with Louis Vuitton, Bape and Giuseppe Zanotti.
Also, he has $122 million in cash and stocks and business investments with his ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS underwear brand. The brand was launched in 2019 with a focus on offering shapewear in an inclusive range of sizes and colors.
West also owns KW Foods LLC, which owns the Fatburger chain of restaurants in Chicago. “The Fatburger chain is known for its dedication to an old-fashioned style, with free jukeboxes in every outlet and an appropriate slogan: ‘The Last Great Hamburger Stand’,” according to The Guardian.
West further owns the creative content company named DONDA. The company was named after his mother, Donda West, and shares the name with his tenth studio album, released in 2021.
The rapper is a shareholder in streaming app TIDAL and his stake is estimated at 3 percent. In 2017, he left the company following a financial feud. According to TMZ, West complained that the company owes him money—more than $3 million.
West also has investments in real estate. According to Marca, he owns around 160 million dollars in real estate in the United States.
