Kanye West is Worth $6.6 Billion, thanks to Yeezy shoes

Rap genius and entrepreneur, Kanye West is now worth $6.6 billion.  In 2009, the music superstar launched the first version of his shoe line 'Yeezy' in collaboration with Nike, becoming the first non-athlete to be given a Nike shoe deal. Yeezy eventually evolved into a complete apparel brand and has become one of the most influential sneaker brands in the world. In 2020, even during the economic turbulence that accompanied the pandemic, Yeezy raked in revenue of about $1.7 billion, 13% higher than 2019's $1.5 billion. The line also received $191 million in royalties.

The 43-year-old has proven to be a success beyond hip-hop, as he's established himself as the richest Black person in the U.S. history, surpassing Oprah Winfrey and David Steward who have net-worths of $3.5 billion and $3.9 billion respectively. He is also the world's third-richest celebrity, one place behind Hollywood director Steven Spielberg who has a net worth of $9 billion. 

Last year, Kanye extended his deal with Gap, worth about $1 billion. Even though the deal doesn't cover foot-wear, Kanye will design and sell clothes under the Yeezy Gap label.  The Yeezy Gap line scheduled to launch in July is expected to make $150 million in sales in its first year. The company believes the Yeezy Gap collab will exceed $1 billion in sales by 2023, and become a billion-dollar revenue company in eight years.

Even though the partnership is set to last for another 10 years until 2026, Kanye has complete ownership and creative control of his line which brings the money straight into his pocket.

Yeezy's deals with Gap as well as his prior deal with Adidas, puts the value of the apparel line at about $3.2 billion to $4.7 billion, according to the United Bank of Switzerland (UBS).

In 2020, Kanye disagreed with a report by Forbes, which pegged his net worth at about $1.3 billion. He argued that he was worth much more than that, over $3 billion. One year later, this figure has multiplied to $6.6 billion.

Apart from Yeezy, Kanye's financial lawyer disclosed that he also has about $122 million in cash and stock, $110 million for his music catalog, and $1.7billion in other assets including heavy investments in ex-wife's Kim Kardashian’s underwear brand SKIMS. 

This is good news for Kanye, as just six years ago, he confessed that he was deep in debt of about $53 million and asked Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg to invest in his line.

The rapper who has received 22 Grammys has worked hard for his success, he predicted in 2013 that he was going to be the leader of a company that ends up being worth billions of dollars because he has answers and understands the culture. He was quoted saying, 'I am the nucleus.'