The bulk of the rapper’s estimated $1.8 billion net worth was built with consumer brands, not songs.
This time it’s for real. Maybe. Kanye West plans to unveil Donda again Thursday, with plans for a second listening party at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. A July 22 event was live streamed via Apple Music to a reported 3.3 million viewers, possibly a record for the service, but then was immediately removed when West decided to rework the album—moving into the 2-million square-foot stadium, setting up a studio and sharing photos on Instagram that were later made private of a bed he apparently set up in a locker room. Donda, which he named after his late mother, is West’s 10th studio album and his first in two years. But while the release may be a seminal moment for fans who have been waiting for months to hear it, the new album will barely make a dent in the billionaire rapper’s bank account. He may have gotten rich off music, but the real money for Kanye lies elsewhere. Forbes estimates West is worth $1.8 billion. Most of that is tied to the value of his insanely popular Yeezy sneakers brand, plus a stake in soon-to-be-ex Kim Kardashian West’s shapewear line Skims and a collection of exotic cars, real estate and other luxurious assets. Music, including the value of his record label GOOD Music and his share of the publishing rights to his songs, accounts for about $100 million, just under 6% of his fortune. Divorce and an ill-fated presidential run aside, it’s been a fruitful hiatus from music for Kanye. Sales of his sneaker collaboration with Adidas, which launched in 2013, are up almost six fold since 2017, according to a report from investment bank UBS, and the line generated operating income of $214 million in 2020.
