Kanye West is an American producer, rapper, fashion designer, and entrepreneur who has a net worth of $400 million. When Kanye was a multi-billionaire, he was one of the three richest self-made black people in US history. Kanye gained widespread fame upon the release of his 2004 album The College Dropout. Today, he is one of the most successful and awarded musicians on the planet with 24 Grammy wins out of 75 nominations. In recent years he has pivoted away from music towards the business world, earning at least $100 million per year from his various endeavors. The vast majority of his earnings have come from royalties and other earnings related to his Yeezy brand and Adidas partnership. But his outspoken views and controversy have cost him many sponsors and partnerships over the last few years.
Kanye owns the Yeezy apparel line outright 100%. During his time partnering with Adidas, he earned a royalty on every dollar of revenue generated. The Yeezy brand generated $2 billion per year in revenue and $250 million in profit for Adidas. At the peak of his partnership with Adidas, the Yeezy brand was estimated to be worth $4 – $5 billion on its own.
In March 2021, a UBS valuation estimated that Yeezy would add $3-4 billion to Kanye’s net worth bottom line. The same report estimated Kanye’s former deal with The Gap previously added $1 billion to West’s net worth.
When assessing Kanye West’s net worth in mid-2021, we included the following assets and liabilities:
Assets:
Total assets = $6.7 billion
Liabilities and other considerations = $100 million
Net Worth = $6.6 billion
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Kanye Omari West was born on June 8, 1977, in Atlanta, Georgia. Following his parents’ divorce when he was three, West moved with his mother to Chicago, Illinois. There, he began experimenting with music after meeting producer/DJ No I.D., who mentored him. He received a scholarship to attend the American Academy of Art in 1997 but transferred to Chicago State University to study English. Eventually, he dropped out of school at age 20 to pursue his music career.
After dropping out of college, West began making beats for local artists while he honed his own style. His first official production credits were for the debut album of Chicago rapper Grave, Down to Earth, in 1996. Other artists he produced for during this period include Foxy Brown, Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie, and Harlem World.
In 2000, West got his big break when he began to work as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, working with artists including Ludacris, Alicia Keys, and Janet Jackson. His work on Jay-Z’s 2001 album The Blueprint generated serious interest in West’s talents as a producer. His production credits from this time period include an impressive roll call of talent including Jay-Z, Beyoncé, John Legend, Alicia Keys and Janet Jackson.
Despite his success as a producer, West’s main dream was to be a rapper. In 2001, he managed to convince the head of Capitol Records to sign him to Roc-A-Fella Records after being denied a contract with Capitol Records.
After a serious car crash in October 2002, where he shattered his jaw, West was inspired and recorded the song Through the Wire with his jaw still wired shut. This song laid the foundations for his debut album The College Dropout, which was leaked months before its scheduled release date in August 2003. West used the time to remix, remaster, and edit it, postponing its release three times. The College Dropout was eventually released in February 2004 to widespread critical acclaim, earning him 10 Grammy Award nominations, and eventually certified triple platinum in the US.
As he began working on his second album, West invested two million dollars into the production, even hiring a live string orchestra. Late Registration was released in August 2005, selling over 2.3 million units in the United States by the end of the year. His subsequent albums include Graduation (2007), 808s & Heartbreak (2008), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), collaboration album with Jay-Z Watch the Throne (2011), Yeezus (2013), The Life of Pablo (2016), Ye (2018), collaboration album with Kid Cudi Kids See Ghosts (2018), Jesus is King (2019), and Donda (2021).
West released the album Yeezus in 2013. The album reached #1 on the Billboard 200 chart as well as on the US R&B and US Rap charts and in four other countries. His album The Life of Pablo was released in 2016 and reached #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and #2 on the US Rap and US R&B charts. West’s single “FourFiveSeconds” (with Rihanna and Paul McCartney) reached #1 on the US R&B chart. In 2017, he was nominated for six Grammy Awards. His next album, Ye was released in June 2018. Unfortunately, Ye was the first album in Kanye’s career to not go platinum.
In addition to his own albums and releases, West has continued working as a producer and featuring artist for other musicians, including 6ix9ine, XXXTentacion, Lil Pump, Chance the Rapper, Kid Cudi, and Teyana Taylor. Other music-related projects he has pursued include his weekly “Sunday Service” orchestration with the Sunday Service Choir, where they have performed every Sunday since January 2019. He also collaborated with contemporary artist Vanessa Beecroft on two operas, Nebuchadnezzar and Mary.
(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
West has long expressed his interest in fashion and was the first non-athlete to score a shoe deal with Nike with his 2009 Air Yeezys sneaker. He has also designed footwear with Louis Vuitton, Bape, and Giuseppe Zanotti. Additionally, he released two clothing lines at Paris Fashion Week in 2011 and 2012.
In December 2013, Adidas officially announced its new shoe collaboration deal with West. The Yeezy Boost 750 sneaker in “Light Brown” was first released on February 14, 2015, exclusively available on the Adidas mobile app to those in New York City, and sold out within 10 minutes. As of December 2017, a total of 19 colors and six designs had been released in the Adidas and Yeezy sneaker collaboration. In 2015, West premiered Season 1 of his Yeezy clothing line with Adidas. Season 2 quickly followed later that year, with Season 3 in February 2016.
Following the success of his early releases, Adidas announced a long-term contract with West in June 2016. On average, Kanye earns a 10% royalty on net revenues from Adidas. He earns a high royalty for merchandise sold through his own website, YeezySupply.com, as opposed to Adidas.com. His blended average royalty rate is around 10%.
It should be noted that Kanye owns 100% of the Yeezy apparel line outright as of this writing.
In 2004, Kanye founded the record label and production company G.O.O.D Music with Sony BMG. “G.O.O.D” is an acronym for “getting out our dreams.” Artists signed to the label include West himself, John Legend, Common, Big Sean, Pusha T, Q-Tip, Kacy Hill, and Teyana Taylor.
He also owns the company KW Foods LLC., which owns the rights to the Fatburger fast-food chain in Chicago. In January 2012, West announced the establishment of DONDA, a creative content company named after his late mother, Donda West. Additionally, West is a co-owner of the music streaming service Tidal, along with other music artists such as Jay-Z, Rihanna, Madonna, Chris Martin, and Nicki Minaj. Most of the stakeholders involved own a 3% equity stake.
His philanthropic ventures include the Kanye West Foundation, which benefits education for African American and Latino children, in addition to contributing time, talent, and money to Hurricane Katrina relief, World Water Day, and Live Earth, among other organizations. In June 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd murder, Kanye donated $2 million split between the Floyd family and other victims of police brutality, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.
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Kanye West owns around $100 million worth of real estate in the United States (land, buildings, and homes). Below is a rundown of his most notable real estate purchases and sales.
During their marriage, Kim/Kanye’s primary residence was an expansive estate in the LA suburb of Hidden Hills, California. This estate consists of multiple connected parcels, the first of which was acquired in 2014 in two separate transactions for $23 million. The first iteration of their property featured a newly built mansion on 4.5 acres. The couple proceeded to spend millions of dollars over several years customizing, re-arranging, and expanding the home. In 2019, they expanded their estate with two separate transactions for neighboring properties to create a conjoined 7.5-acre behemoth. A staggering $28.5 million has been spent on real estate transactions alone to create the Hidden Hills estate. Tens of millions more have been spent on renovations. The Hidden Hills estate’s current assessed value is north of $60 million. In September 2021, Kim paid Kanye $23 million to officially transfer the property into her name. Roughly $3 million of that amount went to the home’s interior contents.
In September 2021, Kanye paid $57.3 million for a beachfront home in Malibu. The home, which Tadao Ando designed, was built in 2013 for a Wall Street tycoon named Richard Sachs. Sachs spent seven years gathering permits and completing the construction. The finished home is 4,000 square feet and is made of 1,200 tons of concrete, 200 tons of steel, and 12 pylons driven 60 feet into the sand. Sachs put the home on the market in 2020 for $75 million. Kanye never moved into the home. He put it on the market in December 2023 for $53 million. According to the listing agent, buyers will need to be prepared to spend “several million dollars” to make the house livable after Kanye’s construction projects, which were never completed. Here is a drone video tour of the Malibu mansion:
Other real estate assets include:
West had an on-and-off relationship with designer Alexis Phifer from 2002 to 2008. He dated model Amber Rose from 2008 to 2010. In April 2012, he began dating reality star Kim Kardashian. They married in May 2014. Together, the couple have four children. They divorced in 2022. For a brief period in 2022, Kanye dated actress/model Julia Fox.
In January 2023, it was reported that Kanye and Australian architect Bianca Censori were married informally in a private ceremony in Beverly Hills.
In October 2021, Kanye had his request granted to change his legal name to “Ye.”
Below is the calculation we used to determine Kanye West’s 2019 net worth of $600 million:
Assets:
Total assets = $720 million
Liabilities and other considerations = $100 million
2019 Net Worth = $600 million (with a conservative $20 million error margin)
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