Kanye West Net Worth

How much is Kanye West worth?

About Kanye West

The mind behind iconic, four-times platinum albums such as College Dropout and Graduation, Ye, more commonly known as Kanye West, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. You name it, this eccentric musical genius has probably done it. He has 24 Grammy Award wins, he has sold over 160 million records worldwide and has earned more money in business than any other rapper.

His success in music has allowed him to pursue, and be successful in various other industries, like fashion, acting, and film making. His music spans a wide range of different genres, yet all still with a signature style through his songs.

Kanye had an affinity for art, music, and poetry from the start. He wrote poems when he was five, and started rapping in the third grade. He even began to compose music in the seventh grade. He even went on to write his very first rap song at thirteen, and recorded it in a “little basement studio” which his mother payed for. Kanye’s big break in 2000, was when he was signed on to Rock-A-Fella Records to produce for various artists. He garnered a bit of recognition for the stellar work that he did, and his contributions to Jay-Z‘s iconic album, The Blueprint.

The Blueprint is hailed as one of the most influential and greatest hip hop albums of all time, but producing was not really what Kanye wanted to be doing. He wanted to be a rapper. Many record labels turned him down however, saying that he didn’t have the ‘gangsta’ vibe that they were looking for. To prevent him from joining another label, Rock-A-Fella Records (albeit reluctantly) decided to sign him.

Kanye West was born in Atlanta, Georgia as an only child, he relocated with his mother to Chicago after his parents’ divorce. He was just three years old at the time and would spend summers with his father, Ray West, an award-winning photojournalist. His mother, who was an English professor, Donda West, had a close and loving relationship with young Kanye.

This relationship continued and after Donda retired in 2004 and moved to California, she began working full-time in her son’s various businesses. She was even seen with him at parties and award shows and was a firm defender of Kanye when times were rough. She was incredibly supportive saying of him, “There is no room for shyness. I raised him that way, to think critically and analytically and not be afraid to voice what you feel. I helped shape that. I think leaders are people who must do that.”Her death on November 10, 2007 following elective cosmetic surgery had a huge impact on Kanye.

Donda West’s memoir, Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip-Hop Star, was published in 2009. Donda wrote that she had always wanted her son to go to college, but seeing him so taken with producing his beats and his passion for his art form, she got behind him and supported him in his decision to pursue music.

Kanye wanted to take a direct route to a music career because he felt he had what it took, no matter what anybody else would say. After he graduated from Polaris High School he went on to attend Chicago State University and produce music for local artists. A year later, he dropped. Then in 2000, after meeting Jay-Z, he began producing songs for his album The Blueprint. Quickly Kanye became one of the hottest music producers in hip-hop and R&B, laying down tracks for the likes of Ludacris, T.I. and Beyonce. 

Producing alone couldn’t hold Kanye however, and with his sights set on stardom he wanted to rap his own lyrics to his own audience. Jay-Z reflects on these times before Kanye had even laid down his first rap track. Jay-Z says, “He [once] interrupted our studio session and stood on a table and started rapping. We were like, ‘Can you please get down’. He was like, ‘No, I am the savior of Chicago’. He didn’t even have a record.”He signed a deal with Jay-Z’s label Roc-A-Fella Records in 2002 and immediately began recording.

Then, after a tragic near-fatal car accident following a marathon recording session, Kanye suffered a fractured jaw, which required his jaw to be wired shut. Fortunately for Kanye, he kept his head up and his pen to the paper writing new lyrics and matching them with beats. After he recovered, drawing inspiration from his near-death experience and wired shut jaw, Kanye released Through the Wire, in September 2003.

Then on February 10, 2004, his debut album, The College Dropout, was a massive success, selling 441,000 copies in its first week alone.   It would go on to sell 2.6 million copies and earn him three Grammys—”Best Rap Album”, “Best Rap Song” for “Jesus Walks” and “Best R&B Song” for producing Alicia Keys’ “You Don’t Know My Name.” 

In 2005, Kanye’s new album Late Registration sold over 860,000 copies in its first week and was praised by both Time and Rolling Stone. In fact, Kanye West was featured on the cover of Time magazine with the title, “Hip-Hops Class Act”. It was the beginning of great things for the artist.

Late Registration went on to win three more Grammys—”Best Rap Album”, “Best Rap Song” for “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” and “Best Rap Solo Performance” for “Gold Digger.”  

In 2007, West released his third album, Graduation. It sold 957,000 copies in its first week. It also went on to win him his third “Best Rap Album” Grammy. Then his audience began to broaden when he performed at The O2 in London on November 22 with “Hey Mama”. An emotional tribute to his late mother, Donda.

In the end it wasn’t music that earned Kanye most of his money, but fashion. After teaming up with Adidas, Kanye West showed his insane creativity when he launched the Yeezy line of sneakers, adidas + YEEZY. Their unique designs and creative marketing exploded the revenue of the shoes. The first shoe model (“Boost 750”) was released in February 2015. Since then, in America, and around the world, the Yeezy line of sneakers has sold billions of dollars worth of shoes.

Kanye’s Total Net Worth

He is currently the richest rapper in the world, followed closely by Jay-Z, Diddy and Dr. Dre. Bloomberg puts Kanye’s net worth at an incredible $6.6 billion, this is disputed by Forbes who estimate that Kanye’s total net worth at $2 billion. “West’s wildly optimistic approach to his net worth mirrors the approach used by Donald Trump, who insists the value of his name be included in any net-worth estimate,” they report.

Revenues for Yeezy’s Adidas sneakers were $1.3 billion in 2019 and were up by $400 million in 2020 earning $1.7 billion. While Kanye retains 100% ownership of his brand and full creative control over the products, Adidas owns Adidas and Kanye earns 15% in royalties on sales. Bloomberg seems to be factoring in brand equity, which refers to the premium that a brand can price its products, as well as the recognizability of the brand and likelihood of successful new lines in the future and reliable sales volumes. However, the estimated net worth still seems inflated, “Reports that the celebrity is worth nearly $7 billion are based on the magical thinking around sales that don’t yet exist,” Forbes has neatly quipped

Kanye West’s shoe revenues for his 15% royalties would have been $255 million in 2020. The Yeezy-Gap deal projects an estimated $1 billion in sales. They entered a ten year deal in 2020 which may be worth $900 million to $1.5 billion over the next ten years. At that time, Gap and Kanye West also announced the release of their Yeezy clothing line designed exclusively for Gap. His first Yeezys designed for Gap was a hoodie and jacket and, according to Forbes, and like most things Kanye, it has been selling out.

Kanye has also earned big with his investment in Kim Kardashian’s shapewear line, Skims. A company claiming to be creating the next generation of underwear, loungewear and shapewear. After raising $240 million in their latest round of funding the company has recently been valued at an estimated $3.2 billion.

While we were all waiting for his new album, Donda 2, to drop. Kanye claimed that the only way to get his new album was by buying his $200 “stem player” (music player) that is produced by Yeezy Tech. Always the salesman he showed Forbes in February 2022, that he had sold 6,200 players in a 24 hour period. Which would amount to $1.2 million dollars in net sales within 24 hours from this stunt alone.

Kanye West’s net worth mostly comes down to how valuable the Yeezy brand is. The brand equity is substantial and therefore the company valuation would be at multiples compared to a generic brand. Bloomberg has estimated the the company to be worth $4.7 billion.

There’s definitely a lot of feet in the world, but it is also true that once a buyer has purchased a pair or two from Yeezy’s selection they are now counted out for some years. Yeezy’s are high quality, almost the Apple of shoes, so ardent fans may buy multiple pairs in a five year period.

As per the royalties. Public companies like Nike, Reebok and Adidas work for public shareholders. Therefore they need to be able to justify, even sometimes to the SEC, every dollar of public capital that they spend. It would be surprising if Kanye were to earn even an additional 1%, but we’ll have to wait and see in the occurrence of a renegotiation on Yeezy royalties.

Yeezy is definitely a creative brand and design with a highly popular and creative person behind it. It takes a lot to reimagine a shoe, but these multinational public sports corps, like Adidas and Nike, provide all the infrastructure and marketing that make the revenue happen and a 15% royalties deal seems to make a lot of sense. Therefore, overall, Kanye West’s net worth is being estimated at $2.5 billion.

Summing-Up

Kanye West is one of the most well-known and respected artists of all time. His combination of brilliant music, and brilliant business moves, combined with a talent for producing, and designing makes him one of the most influential people in pop culture. Having been married to Kim Kardashian also boosted his image and the pair are never found too far from the spotlight. Kanye is an example of how anyone can use raw inspiration from even the bad events that happen in their life, to refuel their drive and passion. Being rather eccentric and pretty out there with his persona, also often works in his favor. If people consider you to be a little bit “crazy,” well, there is a lot of use in that.