Of all the things that are turbulent in his life, at least Kanye West’s net worth remains stable. The Jesus Is King rapper has previously battled with business industry-wide net worth calculators, such as Forbes, over his reported net worth on their site for years. Kanye, 43, often claimed that his net worth was far higher than what was publicly estimated, yet never provided sufficient documentation to Forbes to back up such claims. As of 2020, however, that has finally changed.
The updates to Kanye West’s net worth came weeks before the rapper formally announced his Yeezy x Gap collaboration in June 2020. “We are excited to welcome Kanye back to the Gap family as a creative visionary, building on the aesthetic and success of his YEEZY brand and together defining a next-level retail partnership,” said Mark Breitbard, global head of Gap Brand, in a press release about the partnership. This major move in Kanye’s fashion career seemed like a step in the right direction for the artist—that is, until, Kanye’s presidential campaign became a part of the conversation.
On July 4, 2020, Ye infamously announced his plans to run for President of the United States. It was a plan he had alluded to multiple times in the past, yet few took him seriously until his formal announcement via Twitter. A couple of weeks following his announcement, Kanye went on to speak about his anti-abortion stance during a presidential rally in South Carolina.
Followers increasingly became troubled by his comments after tuning into a lengthy Twitter rant days later. In a series of now-deleted tweets, the rapper claimed that his wife Kim Kardashian and her mother, Kris Jenner, are “white supremacists” who were trying to “lock him up,” among other things. Kim eventually responded to Kanye’s meltdown on Instagram, addressing his bipolar disorder (a diagnosis that Kanye has refuted) and asked for compassion and empathy from the public.
While it remains unclear if Kanye is dropping his presidential bid, many wonder whether the rapper had the means to pursue the ticket in the first place. Technically, he does. Kanye West’s net worth proves plenty large enough to fund his own campaign. Whether that’s a good idea for Kanye, however, warrants an entirely separate conversation. For now, here’s everything we know about Kanye West’s net worth in 2020.
How is Kanye West’s net worth influenced by his music career?
In a September 2019 Forbes report, Kanye West’s net worth placed him as the highest-paid rapper in hip-hop that year. They calculated an estimated income of around $150 million after deducting fees for agents, managers, and lawyers based on pretax income documentation. For some context, Jay-Z—who was reported as the hip-hop industry’s second-highest-paid artist in the Forbes article—made an estimated $81 million in 2019 in comparison. So it’s safe to say that Kanye’s net worth is doing just fine thanks to his longstanding music career. However, music isn’t the only thing going for Kanye—and it may not even be the big moneymaker.
How much of Kanye West’s net worth is due to Yeezy?
Kanye’s stake in his Yeezy line actually constitutes most of his net worth, according to Forbes. In their April 2020 update to Kanye West’s net worth, the publication explains that Kanye “has created a brand that’s challenging Nike’s Air Jordan for sneaker world supremacy,” and as such, it should come as no surprise that the brand made an estimated revenue of about $1.3 billion in 2019 alone. Kanye, who technically owns 100% of the brand, is estimated to take home an 11% royalty from Adidas (who is behind the production, marketing, and distribution of Yeezy footwear), which amounts to over a $140 million salary from Yeezy sales in 2019 alone.
What is Kanye West’s net worth in 2020?
According to Forbes, Kanye West’s net worth is around $1.3 billion as of 2020. He’s officially a member of the three-comma club, at last.