Is Kanye West really worth $7 billion? Rapper slams Forbes for listing him at $2bn
Kanye West has reportedly spoken out against Forbes for allegedly undervaluing his $7 billion net worth after he made it on the magazine's prestigious billionaires List this year valued at $2 billion.
West's real-time net worth was listed at $2 billion on the magazine's star-studded list. Speaking to The Blast, however, insiders said West is actually worth $7 billion. The megastar rapper is one of several celebrities who made the cut this year. West follows Oprah Winfrey, who is valued at $2.6 billion. Meanwhile, his ex-wife Kim Kardashian trails him at $1.8 billion. This year's list also featured Rihanna who earned a spot for the first time with her $1.7 billion valuation following the success of her cosmetics line Fenty Beauty.
RELATED ARTICLES
Net says Kanye West 'should start his own festival' after dropping out of Coachella
Steve Harvey's net worth: Star host and entertainer attributes success to faith in god
It's worth noting that while West has struck a number of lucrative deals, the Forbes real-time billionaires' list does not take into account the "enterprise value of long-term deals that are in place" and determines net worth in part on "revenue from last year only." West's team was told about the article in advance and is reportedly not happy with the listed valuation of the 'Donda' hitmaker.
West has a multi-year deal with Adidas with his ultra-successful Yeezy range. Meanwhile, he has another major deal with Gap to produce and design apparel for the company. The Yeezy Gap collaboration clocked $1 billion in sales in its first year. Now, a new range -- Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga -- is slated to be released later this year. What's more? West also owns a small stake in his ex-wife Kardashian's shapewear brand Skims. The rapper reportedly believes that Forbes is attempting to "control and diminish him even at the cost of their own integrity," according to The Blast.
Having said that, this is barely the first time West has criticized Forbes. He allegedly sent the magazine a text message to express his displeasure at their evaluation of his net worth after the publication featured him on their billionaire's list in 2020. West is said to have provided documents to the publication so its editors can have an "authentic numeric look into Kanye, Inc." However, he was left unsatisfied with their research after they estimated his net worth to be $1.26 billion instead of what he believed was $3.3 billion. "It's not a billion," the controversial artiste allegedly texted the magazine at the time. "It's $3.3 billion since no one at Forbes knows how to count."
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk topped the Forbes list for the first time this year with his estimated $219 billion that came after he added $68 billion to his fortune last year with the success of Tesla. Musk toppled Jeff Bezos from the top spot for the first time in four years as the Amazon stock fell and his net worth lessened by $6 billion. Nonetheless, Bezos still has a whopping $171 billion to his name. Meanwhile, the top five include French luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault, with a net worth of $158 billion, Bill Gates, with a net worth of $129 billion, and Warren Buffett, with a net worth of $118 billion, ET reported.