Kanye West is officially a billionaire but he is still not happy with Forbes
Kanye West is officially a billionaire, according to Forbes.
The magazine says the rapper and fashion designer, who has long coveted the status, gave it a glimpse into his personal finances, which led it to value his net worth at $1.3bn (£1.04bn).
That includes his stake in the Yeezy trainer line, which Forbes describes as “one of the great retail stories of the century”, worth $1.26bn (£1.0bn). Added to that, Forbes said the statement of assets supplied to them by West’s team lists $17m in cash (£13.6m) and $35m in stocks (£28m).
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West’s other notable assets, according to his team, are $81m (£64.7m) in property and $21m (£16.8m) in land. West and his wife, the reality TV star Kim Kardashian West, are known to own several properties in Los Angeles and Wyoming.
The 42-year-old star is one of the most acclaimed and biggest-selling artists of the past 20 years.
In total, his record label GOOD Music and the rights to his back catalogue are worth at least $90m (£71.9m), Forbes said. However, the magazine, which stressed there was a lack of independent verification for the figures, also listed West as having debt of about £100m (£80m).
That adds up to the $1.3bn total, the magazine said, placing him above sister-in-law Kylie Jenner, who has a net worth of $1bn, largely from her cosmetics business.
Despite now being officially classed as a billionaire, West was unhappy with Forbes and claimed they had undervalued him.
“It’s not a billion,” West reportedly said in a text to the magazine. “It’s 3.3 billion since no one at Forbes knows how to count.”
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He had been left displeased with an article from last year in which Forbes refused to class him as a billionaire. West is said to have texted a reporter it was a “disrespectful article” that was “purposely snubbing me”.
His ire was further provoked earlier this month when Forbes released its annual billionaires list, with West’s name absent.
“You know what you’re doing,” West is said to have texted a Forbes journalist. “You’re toying with me and I’m not finna lye down and take it anymore in Jesus name.”