Kanye West Net Worth: $6.6 Billion
What is Kanye Wests net worth?
Kanye West is an American producer, rapper, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. As of this writing, Kanye Wests net worth is $6.6 billion. He is one of the the three richest self-made black people in US history.
Kanye gained widespread fame upon the release of his 2004 album The College Dropout. Today he is one of the most successful and awarded musicians on the planet with 21 Grammy wins out of 69 nominations. In recent years he has pivoted away from music towards the business world. His Yeezy/Adidas partnership has earned West a sizable fortune.
In recent years Kanye has earned at least $100 million per year from his various endeavors. The vast majority of his earnings have come from royalties and other earnings related to his Yeezy brand and Adidas partnership.
Yeezy separately owns his own Yeezy apparel line outright 100% but earns a royalty on the sales which are north of $1.5 billion per year. According to several private bank estimates Yeezy is a $4 – $5 billion brand. In March 2021, a UBS valuation estimated that Yeezy adds $3-4 billion to Kanyes net worth bottom line. The same report estimates Kanyes deal with The Gap adds another $1 billion to Wests net worth.
KEY FACTS
Is the richest black person in US history
Has sold 140 million albums/singles in his career
Owns $100 million worth of real estate
Music catalog is worth $110 million
Owns 100% of Yeezy
Earns $150-$200 million in Yeezy royalties every year
Yeezys enterprise value adds $3-5 billion to Kanyes net worth
Has a partnership with The Gap thats worth $1 billion
In assessing Kanye Wests net worth, we have considered the following assets and liabilities:
Assets:
Real estate assets = $120 million
Music catalogue including G.O.O.D Music = $80 million
Yeezy.com website = $100 million
Value of Yeezy brand = $5 billion
Value of Gap partnership = $1 billion
Cash, equities and other assets = $400 million
Total assets = $6.7 billion
Liabilities and other considerations = $100 million
Net Worth = $6.6 billion
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Kanye Omari West was born on June 8, 1977 in Atlanta, Georgia. Following his parents divorce when he was three, West moved with his mother to Chicago, Illinois. There, he began experimenting with music after meeting producer/DJ No I.D., who mentored him. He received a scholarship to attend the American Academy of Art in 1997, but transferred to Chicago State University to study English. Eventually, he dropped out of school at age 20 to pursue his music career.
After dropping out of college, West began making beats for local artists while he honed his own style. His first official production credits were for the debut album of Chicago rapper Grave, Down to Earth, in 1996. Other artists he produced for during this period include Foxy Brown, Deric D-Dot Angelettie, and Harlem World.
Rise to Fame and Music Career
In 2000, West got his big break when he began to work as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, working with artists including Ludacris, Alicia Keys, and Janet Jackson. His work on Jay-Zs 2001 album The Blueprint generated serious interest in Wests talents as a producer. His production credits from this time period include an impressive roll call of talent including Jay-Z, Beyoncé, John Legend, Alicia Keys and Janet Jackson.
Despite his success as a producer, Wests main dream was to be a rapper. In 2001, he managed to convince the head of Capitol Records to sign him to Roc-A-Fella Records after being denied a contract with Capitol Records.
After a serious car crash in October 2002, where he shattered his jaw, West was inspired and recorded the song Through the Wire with his jaw still wired shut. This song laid the foundations for his debut album The College Dropout, which was leaked months before its scheduled release date in August 2003. West used the time to remix, remaster, and edit it, postponing its release three times. The College Dropout was eventually released in February 2004 to widespread critical acclaim, earning him 10 Grammy Award nominations, and eventually certified triple platinum in the US.
As he began working on his second album, West invested two million dollars into the production, even hiring a live string orchestra. Late Registration was released in August 2005, selling over 2.3 million units in the United States by the end of the year. His subsequent albums include Graduation (2007), 808s & Heartbreak (2008), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), collaboration album with Jay-Z Watch the Throne (2011), Yeezus (2013), The Life of Pablo (2016), Ye (2018), and Jesus is King (2019).
West released the album Yeezus in 2013. The album reached #1 on the Billboard 200 chart as well as on the US R&B and US Rap charts and in four other countries. His album The Life of Pablo was released in 2016 and reached #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and #2 on the US Rap and US R&B charts. Wests single FourFiveSeconds (with Rihanna and Paul McCartney) reached #1 on the US R&B chart. In 2017 he was nominated for six Grammy Awards. His next album, Ye was released in June 2018. Unfortunately, Ye was the first album in Kanyes career to not go platinum.
In addition to his own albums and releases, West has continued working as a producer and featuring artist for other musicians, including 6ix9ine, XXXTentacion, Lil Pump, Chance the Rapper, Kid Cudi, and Teyana Taylor. Other music-related projects he has pursued include his weekly Sunday Service orchestration with the Sunday Service Choir, where they have performed every Sunday since January 2019. He also collaborated with contemporary artist Vanessa Beecroft on two operas, Nebuchadnezzar and Mary.
Kanye West Earnings By Year:
Year Earnings
2007 $17,000,000
2008 $30,000,000
2009 $25,000,000
2010 $12,000,000
2011 $16,000,000
2012 $35,000,000
2013 $20,000,000
2014 $30,000,000
2015 $22,000,000
2016 $18,000,000
2017 $22,000,000
2018 $90,000,000
2019 $100,000,000
2020 $200,000,000
Total: $437,000,000
Kanye West has long expressed his interest in fashion, and was the first non-athlete to score a shoe deal with Nike with his 2009 Air Yeezys sneaker. He has also designed footwear with Louis Vuitton, Bape, and Giuseppe Zanotti. Additionally, he released two clothing lines at Paris Fashion Week in 2011 and 2012.
In December 2013, Adidas officially announced its new shoe collaboration deal with West. The Yeezy Boost 750 sneaker in Light Brown was first released on February 14, 2015, exclusively available on the Adidas mobile app to those in New York City, and sold out within 10 minutes. As of December 2017, a total of 19 colors and 6 designs had been released in the Adidas and Yeezy sneaker collaboration. In 2015, West premiered Season 1 of his Yeezy clothing line with Adidas. Season 2 quickly followed later that year, with Season 3 in February 2016.
Following the success of his early releases, Adidas announced a long-term contract with West in June 2016. On average Kanye earns a 10% royalty on net revenues from Adidas. He earns a high royalty for merchandise sold through his own website YeezySupply.com, as opposed to Adidas.com. His blended average royalty rate is around 10%.
It should be noted that Kanye owns 100% of the Yeezy apparel line outright as of this writing.
G.O.O.D Music
In 2004 Kanye founded the record label and production company G.O.O.D Music with Sony BMG. G.O.O.D is an acronym for getting out our dreams. Artists signed to the label include West himself, John Legend, Common, Big Sean, Pusha T, Q-Tip, Kacy Hill and Teyana Taylor.
Other Assets and Philanthropy
He also owns the company KW Foods LLC., which owns the rights to the Fatburger fast-food chain in Chicago. In January 2012, West announced the establishment of DONDA, a creative content company named after his late mother Donda West. Additionally, West is a co-owner of the music streaming service Tidal, along with other music artists such as Jay-Z, Rihanna, Madonna, Chris Martin, and Nicki Minaj. Most of the stakeholders involved own a 3% equality stake.
His philanthropic ventures include the Kanye West Foundation, which benefits education for African American and Latino children, in addition to contributing time, talent and money to Hurricane Katrina relief, World Water Day, and Live Earth, among other organizations.
Real Estate
Kanye West owns around $180 million worth of real estate in the US (land, buildings, and homes).
The Kim/Kanye primary residence is an expansive estate in the LA suburb of Hidden Hills, California. This estate consists of multiple connected parcels, the first of which were acquired in 2014 in two separate transactions for $23 million. The first iteration of their property featured a newly-built mansion on 4.5 acres. The couple proceeded to spend millions of dollars over several years customizing, re-arranging, and expanding the home. In 2019 they expanded their estate with two separate transactions for neighboring properties to create a conjoined 7.5-acre behemoth.
A staggering $28.5 million has been spent on real estate transactions alone to create the Hidden Hills estate. Tens of millions more have been spent on renovations.
Their Hidden Hills estates current assessed value is north of $70 million.
In September 2021 Kanye spent $57.3 million for a beachfront home in Malibu.
Other real estate assets include:
A 320-acre estate on Stokes Canyon Road in Calabasas that is worth $16 million. This is where his Sunday Services have been held and where he attempted to build a series of domed structures before being shut down by the LA County building commission for permit issues.
A 6,700-acre ranch called Bighorn Mountain Ranch in Wyoming – $15 million
A 1,400-acre ranch called The Monster Lake Ranch – $14 million
A $2 million commercial property in Cody, Wyoming
In total, he owns $150 million worth of California real estate and $30 million in Wyoming real estate, for a total of $120 million thats in the public record.
Personal Life
West had an on-and-off relationship with designer Alexis Phifer that lasted from 2002 to 2008, and he dated model Amber Rose from 2008 to 2010. He began dating reality star Kim Kardashian in April 2012, and they were married in May 2014. Together, the couple have four children.
Kanye West Net Worth 2019
Below is the calculation we used to determine Kanye Wests 2019 net worth of $600 million:
Assets:
Real estate assets = $120 million
Music catalog including G.O.O.D Music = $80 million
Value of Yeezy brand = $500 million
Other assets = $20 million
Total assets = $720 million
Liabilities and other considerations = $100 million
2019 Net Worth = $600 million (with a conservative $20 million error margin)
Summary
As of 2020, Kanye Wests net worth is $6.6 billion. He is arguably the most influential musical artist of the last several decades. He has also branched out to philanthropic efforts and a fashion empire through his Yeezy brand.
