Kanye West became a trending Twitter topic on Wednesday (March 17) after he was deemed the “richest Black person in America” with a reported net worth of $6.6 billion.
But according to Forbes, that’s nowhere near accurate. Like many others, the iconic business magazine was likely curious how his net worth increased by $5.3 billion in less than a year. While Kanye has certainly made some lucrative investments, jumping from $1.3 billion in April 2020 to $6.6 just 11 months later would be quite the feat.
On Thursday (March 18), Forbes published an article called, “No, Kanye West Is Not The Richest Black Person In America — Here’s Why,” which plainly outlines how Bloomberg allegedly got it wrong.
As Forbes explains, the Bloomberg article cites a UBS report on Ye’s businesses in which the bank made a number of assumptions based on projected future earnings, particularly for Yeezy Gap, which has yet to launch. Bank documents like that often report “best-possible-scenario future valuations” — not what is actually there. The publication estimates he’s worth $1.8 billion, which is based on current revenues — “not theoretical future expectations.”
Therefore, the richest Black person in the United States remains Vista Equity’s Robert F. Smith who’s worth an estimated $6 billion, while Aliko Dangote of Nigeria is the richest Black person in the world with a reported net worth of $11.8 billion.
Last year, Kanye accused Forbes of “purposely snubbing” him, but the magazine maintains it’s treating Kanye the same way the treat other royalty-based businesses.
“We take the most recent year’s licensing income and apply a multiple to it to account for the fact that this is an ongoing revenue stream,” the article states. “This is how we value Donald Trump’s licensing businesses and JAY-Z’s music catalogue.” His “wildly optimistic approach to his net worth mirrors the approach used by Donald Trump, who insists the value of his name be included in any net worth estimate.
“Trump, who we value at $2.5 billion, says his brand has an intrinsic value, regardless of actual revenue. West and his camp are making a similar argument for businesses attached to the Yeezy name.”
Kanye West On New Billionaire Title: 'It's $3.3B Since No One At Forbes Knows How To Count'
But with his Yeezy hustle valued at $1.5 billion, a music catalog worth $90 million, his $64 million stake in future ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS line and another $160 million in cash and other assets, Kanye is clearly no schlub — he’s just not as wealthy as originally reported.
Despite the misinformation, nobody can argue $1.8 billion isn’t impressive. The man works hard for his money and has the bank account to prove it.
You guys need to get your facts straight and not run with that fake shit. Bloomberg only quoted some analysts who valued business deals Kanye is part of, his net worth is a whole different story and only idiots or media outlets out for big headlines would not differentiate. Bloomberg never claimed he was worth that, last I checked the guy didn’t even make it into their billionaires index, which starts with ppl who’s net worth is around $5,5 billion. So it doesn’t need forbes to set a record straight here
Quit crying.
You idiot that still doesn’t make him the richest black man in the US!
Of course not. Like I said – he is not even in Bloombergs Billionaires Index (so how could they value his net worth at $6.6billion?) he is also nowhere near the Forbes 400 list. Oprah richer than him too btw….
Please stop
Well said.
he might be keen to get with akon and build an african city.
That’s too simple for Kanye. He will build a new Africa on the moon.
Y’all so worried about other people money no wonder y’all broke
Bruhhhh ?
Big facts
Still like 8 black billionaires in all of America, and 5 of them are entertainers. But white people are like what’s the problem bro? This is clearly a level playing field. SMH.
Keep reaching
You’re a clown ?
But will he be a philanthropist like Oprah though? Lol you get a car!!! You get a car!! You get a car!! Everyone gets a new car!!
Still more than Jigga lol
And Kanye did not even have to hustle for centuries to achieve that. The Nike and Adidas deals made him super rich.
Centuries? Lol go back to school
Yea you’re right its funny that Jay-Z is only a billionaire…
Forbes stay pocket watching. Bet them billionaires laugh at how wrong they can be. They stay disputing black ceos & Donald Trump. Fuck forbes
Who gives a fuck bout who the richest black man is. Ye was best when he was behind the scenes smacking em up
We should celebrate that one uneducated black man has become a billionaire by following his own path regardless of what the media or people has said to trash his name and image.
The black community only cares about who’s popping in the charts that’s why its gonna take another century before we get out of the hole.
We need more people to think like Kanye and break the barriers and end this limited confidence we have due to the things history and our oppressors put us through.
We do all have to play ball, sing or dance to negative, derrogative messages about killing people and doing drugs to become popular in the charts. We can do so much more, we build the great pyramids.
Very rich. Good hiphop music. I like Drake too. He is rich. I like Lil Pump. He is very rich. I like 50 Centimeters. Rich brothers make American dreams. Very good. They are good rappers because they are rich. I like Justin Bieber. He is rich rapper too. I hate poor rappers. I like Beyonce. He is a queen and very rich. Jay Z is maybe the very richest. Eminem is not black but he is rich too so I like Eminem too.