The net worth of rap superstar Kanye West is not the estimated $6.6 billion that was previously reported by Bloomberg.
The massive figure was tied to lucrative agreements pairing Gap and Adidas with West’s Yeezy brand.
Bloomberg reported that West’s business with the two iconic labels is valued between $3.2 billion and $4.7 billion by UBS Group AG, according to a private document obtained by the news outlet.
But as Forbes reported on Thursday, “Reports that the celebrity is worth nearly $7 billion are based on the magical thinking around sales that don’t yet exist. This is why he’s currently worth less than one third of that.”
Based on the outlet’s calculations, West is actually worth $1.8 billion. Forbes accused the hip-hop star of attempting to “inflate” his net worth. While the new deals could bode well for West financially, the aforementioned figures come from the UBS projections based on potential Yeezy sales and subsequent earnings for West.
West has a 10-year agreement with Gap to design men’s, women’s and children’s clothes under the new Yeezy Gap label, which will debut this summer and potentially contribute nearly $1 billion to West’s vast fortune. In announcing the agreement last year, Gap wrote that West would create “modern, elevated basics for men, women and kids at accessible price points.”
Gap, the iconic fashion company that also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic, had closed more than 100 stores in North America before the West deal. Executives there expect its partnership to pay off in a major way and, according to the report, the company envisions becoming a billion-dollar revenue brand within eight years, with sales exceeding $1 billion by 2023.
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Gap investors also have faith in the superstar rapper/producer. Stock prices reached a 40-year high when the partnership was announced last year.
West will earn royalties on his sales, with rate increases based on the success of the Yeezy Gap line. Further, he will earn stock warrants. Completely invested in their relationship, Sonia Syngal, Gap, Inc. chief executive officer, said last month: “The entire Gap team are heads down and believe this to be a very big potential for us.”
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West, who has maintained 100-percent ownership of the Yeezy brand, also has a lucrative agreement with Adidas, a partnership in place until 2026. The Bloomberg report notes that West’s Adidas partnership has remained consistent for years and is his largest financial asset. During the pandemic, sales of his shoes grew by 31 percent.
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