Despite a recent report claiming that Kanye West is now worth $6.6 billion, Forbes is disputing those numbers.
In an article published by the publication on Thursday (March 18), Forbes claims "reports that the celebrity is worth nearly $7 billion are based on the magical thinking around sales that don’t exist yet. This is why he’s currently worth less than one-third of that."
Forbes' report comes one day after Bloomberg reported that ’Ye's net worth is $6.6 billion—making him the richest Black person in America—after Forbes revealed last September that he's worth $3.3 billion. Based on the publication's calculations, Kanye is worth less than a third of $6.6 billion, noting that the rapper's earnings amount to $1.8 billion. Instead of Yeezy, Equity’s Robert F. Smith is the richest Black person in the U.S. with a net worth estimated at $6 billion. Nigeria's Aliko Dangote is the richest Black person in the world with a net worth amounting to $11.8 billion.
The outlet goes on to disagree about Kanye's recently announced worth by saying the figures used were overly optimistic. "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," the report says. "Trump, whom we value at $2.5 billion, says his brand has an intrinsic value, regardless of actual revenue. West and his camp are making a similar argument for businesses attached to the Yeezy name."
Forbes has listed the G.O.O.D. Music founder's revenue as Yeezy at $1.5 billion, cash and other assets at $160 million, music catalog at $90 million, Skims at $64 million and Yeezy x Gap at $0.
As previously reported, according to Bloomberg, Kanye's wealth is partly a result of his Yeezy partnership with Adidas and his deal with Gap Inc., which is supposedly valued between $3.2 billion and $4.7 billion, as said by UBS Group AG. In documents reportedly provided by ’Ye's attorney, the remainder of the rapper's net worth comes from $122 million in cash and stocks, $110 million from his music catalog and $1.7 billion in other assets.
Kanye also has earnings from his investment in his wife Kim Kardashian's Skims underwear line. The two are currently in the middle of a divorce.
Although Kanye West isn't the richest Black man in America, he is the second hip-hop billionaire after Jay-Z, according to Forbes.
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