Popular US rapper and music producer Kanye West has joined the exclusive club of hip hop billionaires, according to business magazine Forbes.
Yeezy, as he’s also known, becomes the second hip hop star, after Jay Z, to be certified a billionaire by the magazine.
Last year, his 15 percent royalty from his Yeezy footwear sales (in partnership with Adidas) fetched him roughly $140 million.\ “Conservatively, as we typically are with such figures, a 10x multiple, applied to West’s Yeezy cut of $140 million makes his stake worth about $1.4 billion,” Forbes reported. “But that’s a private, highly-illiquid $1.4 billion – our rule of thumb for private assets like that is to lop off at least 10%. That’s $1.26 billion.” A breakdown of some of the assets Kanye’s team made available to Forbes showed $81 million in “buildings and improvements,” $21 million in land, $3.8 million for “vehicles,” and $297,050 for “livestock.” The rapper’s G.O.O.D music label, recorded songs, and publishing rights are estimated at about $90 million.
Apart from the music, half of Kanye’s assets presumably belongs to his equally famous wife, Kim Kardashian West, Forbes said. “All told, our current net worth estimate for Kanye West: $1.3 billion, which he’ll be pleased to note is $300 million more than little sister Kylie,” the magazine wrote.
