Kanye West's net worth

The current estimated net worth of Kanye West is $400 million after his fallout with Adidas and Gap.

Kanye West, who currently goes by “Ye,” earned his fortune through his music career and successful brand, Yeezy. West reportedly earns between $150 million to $200 million from the brand every year.

Early life

Born on June 8, 1977, in Atlanta, Georgia, Kanye Omari West is a rapper, entertainer, and entrepreneur. He famously decided to run for president in the 2020 election.

Kanye's parents divorced when he was three years old, and Kanye ended up living with his mother, Donda West.

West grew up in a middle-income household. When Kanye was ten, his mother moved them to Nanjing, China, where she taught at Nanjing University under the Fulbright Scholarship program. During their time in Nanjing, Kayne attended school and learned Mandarin, which he claims he can no longer speak.

Kanye West's mom said he took an early interest in the arts and wrote poetry as early as age five. He started rapping in the third grade and creating compositions for artists in the seventh grade.

Kanye received his first sampler at age 15; the rest is history.

Education

His early schooling took place in China. After returning to the US in 1997, Kanye West attended college at Chicago's American Academy of Art under a scholarship before transferring to Chicago State University to continue his study of English.

At the age of 20, Kanye dropped out of college to pursue his music career.

How did Kanye West build his net worth?

Grammy Award winner Kanye West built his net worth through music and business.

The rapper has sold 160 million records worldwide. His music catalog is worth $110 million, generating $13.25 annually. One thing's for sure — Kanye West is productive.

In 2004, Kanye West founded GOOD Music, an independent record label, signing up artists like John Legend.

While his albums are incredibly popular, netting him millions in sales, his Yeezy footwear brand nets him most of his annual earnings. Kanye has partnered with Adidas to launch the shoes.

Kanye West made his first foray into fashion by launching an apparel line in 2006 before getting into the sneakers business.

His sixth album, Yeezus, was released in 2013 to thunderous applause from critics. In 2015, Kanye West took the album title Yeezus and incorporated it into a shoe brand, Yeezy, in collaboration with Adidas. The shoe company launched the brand as Yeezy Season 1, with the highlight of the range being Kanye's Yeezy Boost shoes.

Yeezy Season 2 debuted in 2016, seeing the launch of the updated Adidas Yeezy Boost 750 sneakers. It is well-known that the bulk of Kanye's riches come from Yeezy.

Kanye West has endorsed and collaborated with big brands, such as Adidas, Nike, Giuseppe Zanotti, Gap, Balenciaga, MM Paris, A.P.C., Vogue, and JP Morgan.

Ye also has a 5% stake in Skims, the shapewear company owned by his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, and an undisclosed percentage in Tidal, the streaming service founded by Jay-Z.

How has Kanye West spent his wealth?

Kanye West owns luxurious real estate properties in Hollywood Hills, New York, Miami, Bel-air, Hidden Hills, La Quinta, Malibu, Antwerp, and Paris. He also owns two ranches in Wyoming.

West has a huge collection of expensive vehicles, which includes luxury cars, SUVs, and all-terrain vehicles. Lexus, Mercedes Benz, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Mayback, Porsche, Aston Martin, Dartz, and Sherp are some of the brands that can be found in his garages.

Kanye West divorced his long-time wife, Kim Kardashian, in 2021. He pays Kardashian $200,000 for child support in their divorce settlement. Since his divorce, West dated actress and model Julia Fox and married architect Bianca Censori.

Kanye has spent a fortune on his favorite brands, such as Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Givenchy, and Ralph Lauren.

Kanye West lost a huge amount of his wealth not because he made ridiculously extravagant purchases but because of his controversial statements in 2022. West's net worth was negatively impacted after his controversial statements about Jews drew the media's ire, ultimately causing his relationship with Adidas to fall apart. Since then, Adidas has admitted that losing Yeezy has cost them sorely.

According to Forbes, Adidas owns $1.5 billion of Yeezy’s previous worth of $2+ billion, which leaves Kanye with around $400 million.

Kanye West may be a controversial figure, but he has also used his fortune to help the unfortunate. He founded Dr. Donda West Foundation and the Kanye West Foundation, the latter providing educational venues for African-American and LatinX children.

West has also donated money for disaster relief and has supported organizations like Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, Habitat for Humanity, Live Earth, and World Water Day.

FAQ

How rich is Kanye West?

With a reported fortune of $400, Kanye West is among the richest African American in history. His Yeezy brand continues to net him hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Is Kanye West a millionaire?

Yes, Kanye West is a millionaire. He was a billionaire until brands like Adidas and Gap terminated their partnership with him.

Is Kanye West a billionaire?

Kanye West used to be one, with a former net worth of $2.2 billion.

Is Kanye West the richest rapper?

Kanye West used to be. His fortune used to exceed that of all other rap artists, including Jay-Z, Sean Combs, Dr. Dre, Russell Simmons, Eminem, Pharrell Williams, and Drake.

Is Kanye West broke?

Kanye West was once millions in debt, but he is now incredibly wealthy and definitely is not broke.

Was Kanye West born rich?

Kanye West worked hard to become the self-made man that he is today. He was not born rich.