Business
Kanye West loses $1.5bn, as antisemitic rant crashes deals
American rapper, Kanye West, is no longer a billionaire after his partnership with Adidas for his fashion brand, Yeezy, was terminated by the footwear company.
On Tuesday, Adidas announced that the estimated $1.5 billion deal with Kanye West has been cancelled with immediate effect after the music producer’s antisemitism rants on social media.
Ripples Nigeria had reported that Kanye West was suspended from Instagram and Twitter after making comments that the social networking sites viewed as an attack against Jewish people.
His rants, labelled antisemitic, had also led to some companies and brands like Balenciaga, JPMorgan Chase, The Creative Artists Agency, Gap, MRC and Vogue cut ties or cancelled ongoing contracts with him.
Adidas has now revealed that Yeezy products – which generates about $1.8 billion yearly revenue and accounts for 30 per cent operating margin – will be pulled from sales.
READ ALSO:George Floyd’s family files $250M lawsuit against Kanye West for comments on his death
The decision by Adidas will lead to a short term negative impact of $250 million on its net income for this year. It will also strike a huge blow to Kanye West’s earnings and networth.
Although the deal with Adidas is estimated at $3.7 billion and Bloomberg estimated Kanye West’s networth to be worth $6.6 billion in 2021, Forbes placed their figure of the deal at $1.5 billion, with the rapper’s fortune put at $2.2 billion.
So as a result of him losing his partnership with Adidas, Kanye West’s networth is now estimated around the region of $400 million.
The ‘All Falls Down’ crooner was one of three American black artists that became billionaires, with his former record boss, Jay Z and Rihanna clinching the billionaire spot.
Prior to losing his contract with Adidas, Kanye West had always insisted that he was wealthier than Forbes estimated, and had blamed the undervaluation on the media which he said are controlled by the Jewish.
Kanye West had said he was richer than Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote, as the rapper declared himself the richest black man alive worth $11 billion.
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