American rapper, Kanye West has officially become the richest black man in the history of United States with a net-worth of $6.6 billion.
According to Bloomberg, Kanye West‘s Yeezy Brand, which is in partnership with Adidas AG and Gap Inc., is now valued between $3.2 billion and $4.7 billion by UBS Group AG.
Last year, the 43-year-old rapper announced a 10-year partnership with Gap, which “could be worth as much as $970 million of that total,” Bloomberg reports.
The Yeezy Gap collection, which is scheduled to launch by July, is expected “to break $150 million in sales in its first full year in 2022.”
Gap expects it to become a billion-dollar revenue brand within eight years, with sales exceeding $1 billion as soon as 2023.
West retains full ownership and creative control of the Yeezy brand. His shoe deal with adidas remains his largest asset and continues to grow at a “staggering” rate, according to UBS’ analysis.
To put his wealth into perspective, West has a music catalog worth $110.5 million, $122 million in cash and stocks and over $1.7 billion in other assets, including a large investment in SKIMS, Kim Kardashian’s underwear label.
And while the two celebrity couple are supposedly wading through divorce dealings, which Kim Kardashian reportedly filed for in mid-February, it’s unclear if Kanye West will still be involved in her business once their alleged separation is finalized.
Kany West has come a long way considering the rapper claimed to have been $53 million in debt in 2016, his feat is worth the recognition.
In February of that year, West took to Twitter to ask Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to invest $1 billion in his work. Zuckerberg could’ve received a handsome return on his investment if he decided to go into business with Kanye.t
In April 2020, Forbes confirmed Kanye West had become hip-hop’s second billionaire — the first being Jay-Z. Initially, the publication claimed Kanye was worth $1.5 billion, but the Chicago rapper came out claiming he was worth nearly three times as much.
KanyiDaily recalls that a few weeks ago, JAY-Z sold a significant TIDAL stake to Square Inc. run by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in a $297m deal.