Kanye West is big business. As his Twitter post states, he’s “topping 5 billion” (dollars) and he’s looking for someone to manage his money.
“I’m topping 5 billion and I’m looking for a new trusted Christian CFO,” he posted. For those unsure, ‘CFO’ refers to the chief financial officer in a company. $5 billion is a big number and being a CFO is no small responsibility.
West, who now seems himself as a Christian artist, was recently ranked as a billionaire by Forbes. But before you get too concerned that his wealth is being derived from the Christian marketplace, you can rest easy. The Forbes report has discovered that it is his Yeezy brand of shoes that is driving so much of his wealth creation.
That and the fact he owns his own music label, GOOD. GOOD, in a similar arrangement to Yeezy with Adidas, is part of Universal Music Group.
Like many celebrities, rather than do the heavy lifting of trying to create an entire global supply model for Yeezy, West has instead licensed his brand to Adidas, who use their universal size and strength to produce and sell his shoes. For this, West reportedly receives a 15% royalty.
Forbes calculated that this would come in at $140 million per year, and on 10 x earnings, puts him into the billionaire league. This is also not to mention the properties he owns and the fees he receives annually from GOOD.
He also recently announced a clothing partnership with GAP.
West recently made a $2 million donation to support the Ahmaud Ahmed and Breonna Taylor families with legal fees. He has also set up a 529 college plan for George Floyd’s six year-old daughter, Gianna, which will fully cover her college fees when she grows up.
Matthias Browning
Matthias Browning | Reporter
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