Kanye West has dropped out of the exclusive billionaire’s club after German sportswear retailer adidas ended its nine-year business partnership with the rapper and fashion designer over his anti-Semitic remarks, causing his net worth to plummet to $400 million, from $1.9 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
The deal with adidas on West’s Yeezy line of trainers was worth $1.5bn, based on a multiple of annual earnings, the magazine said.
West has full ownership and creative control of the Yeezy trainer brand, which was launched in 2015 with the adidas Yeezy trainer.
The remainder of West’s fortune comes from property, cash, his music catalogue and a 5 per cent stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s unicorn shapewear brand, Skims, Forbes said.
West, 45, who legally changed his name to Ye in 2018, has been in the headlines recently following a string of anti-Semitic remarks made on social media and in media appearances.
Earlier this month, he held a surprise show on the sidelines of Paris Fashion Week, where he wore a T-shirt with “White Lives Matter” printed on it, widely considered a racist response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Last week, the family of George Floyd said they are suing the rapper for $250m after he claimed Floyd’s death was the result of drug abuse, not from being killed by a police officer.
West has also been suspended from Twitter and Instagram over anti-Semitic posts that the social networks said breached their policies.
Instead, West offered to buy conservative social network Parler, the right-wing social media app that was reportedly used to help to co-ordinate the January 6 riots on the US Capitol last year. The deal amount was undisclosed.
“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial, we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” he said while announcing the plan.
West recently suggested slavery was a choice and called the Covid-19 vaccine the “mark of the beast”, among other comments.
His talent agency, Creative Artists Agency, has also dropped him while the MRC production company announced on Monday that it is shelving a documentary about him.
The Balenciaga fashion house cut ties with West last week and JP Morgan Chase has asked him to choose another banking service by November 21, although the banking break-up was in the works before his anti-Semitic comments.
In September, the Donda hit maker notified fashion brand Gap that he was terminating an agreement to design Yeezy clothing for the high-street retailer for breach of contract.
He signed a 10-year deal with Gap in 2020 and the partnership was expected to bring in $1bn in annual sales through to 2025.
West, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after being admitted to psychiatric care in 2016, first made the Forbes’ billionaire list in 2020 with an estimated $1bn fortune.
The vast majority of his earnings have come from royalties and other earnings related to his Yeezy brand and adidas partnership, according to Celebrity Net Worth, which tracks the wealth and finances of the rich and famous.
As the sole owner of Yeezy, West pocketed about $150m to $200m in annual royalties from the fashion brand. He earned 15 per cent on the wholesale price of his trainers from adidas.
The Yeezy brand generated $2bn per year in revenue and $250m in profit for adidas. At the peak of West's partnership with adidas, the Yeezy brand was estimated to be worth about $4bn to $5bn on its own, Celebrity Net Worth said.
West has sold more than 35 million albums and clocked up more than 100 million digital downloads of his music.
He became famous after the release of his debut album, The College Dropout, in 2004. Including 2021’s Donda, he has sold more than 140 million albums and/or singles in his career, and his music catalogue is thought to be worth $110m, according to Billboard.
West's team had been quietly shopping his catalogue to potential buyers for a valuation of up to $175m, or 35 times its annual revenue of $5m, Billboard reported.
However, the 24-time Grammy Award winner has denied a potential deal.
He owns property worth $160m, mostly in the US, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Kardashian, 42, and West split in February 2021 when she filed for divorce. They share four children — North, 9, Saint, 6, Chicago, 4, and Psalm, 3.
