If you’re reading this, you must have heard of Kanye West. However, if you haven’t, this is who he is: a singer, fashion designer, entrepreneur, record producer and singer. Although we commonly know him for rap, Kanye is quite diverse in music. He is a rock singer, soul, synth-pop, gospel, and indie rock, among many others.
Kanye gained popularity in early 2000 as he produced with Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Jay-Z. However, he still had been in production before that, and that’s when he released his first album.
Although he dropped out of college, by 2004, Kanye was a hit commercial and critical success.
Kanye has made several moves that have contributed to his brand. First, he created a label, GOOD MUSIC, then tried other kinds of music on his albums, Like 808 s and Heartbreak in 2008, Graduation in 2007, and Late Registration in 2005.
His music has contributed to a lot of progression and movement in the cultural sector of hip-hop and music in general.
In 2010 he released My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, although it was criticised. He released other main albums like; The Life of Pablo in 2016, Ye in 2018 and Yeezus in 2013, and collabo albums like Kids See Ghosts in 2018 and Watch the Throne in 2011. Kanye continues to break walls in the music industry.
Apart from music, Kanye is also quite trendy in the fashion world. Not long ago, he created his shoe line, Yeezy, which continues to gain praise and criticism from his fans.
Even though he’s known for several factors, Kanye has maintained his influence born in the fashion and majorly the music industry, and the trends he has created will likely be felt for a long time.
What is Kanye’s Net worth in 2023?
Several sources ‘ reports show that Kanye is worth about $400 million. However, the amount may rise or drop at any time.
Kanye West’s Childhood
Commonly known as Kanye West, Kanye Omari was born in Georgia in 1977. In 1980 when he turned three, his parents separated, and he went with his mom and grew up in Illinois in Chicago. While in Chicago, he met a D.J. who mentored him in music.
West went to Polaris Senior School, where, due to his outstanding grades in 1997, he was awarded a scholarship to study the Art program at the American Academy. However, he later switched schools and went to Chicago State University, where he studied English.
Regardless of his excellent scores at school, Kanye dropped his studies at age 20 and decided to pursue music, where he tremendously made moves, like The Blueprint. He began by being a producer for local musicians before producing his tracks.
While at 26, Kanye was first recognised for producing the Down to Earth debut album. Even then, he continued making music for artists like Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie with Foxy Brown, among other famous musicians.
Kanye’s Career as a Musician
When he turned 23, he started producing music for Roc-A-Fella Productions, and that’s when he got his first breakthrough in the music industry. As a result of that break, he partnered with artists like Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson and Ludacris, which made a statement for his music production skills.
A year later, after he produced The Blueprint, Kanye hit the limelight and began producing for artists like John Legend, Beyonce and other famous artists.
Although he kept producing, Kanye’s main aim was to start wrapping. In 2001, after the fantastic work he had done while producing for Roc-A-Fella Records, he convinced the manager of Capitol Records to add him to the label.
In 2002, after the road accident that nearly took his life, West got the motivation to produce Through the Wire; he sang with a wholly broken Jaw bone.
The song was the beginning of The College Dropout album. Although the album’s release date was in 2003, a leak from the interior a few months before was a possible setback for Kanye. However, he picked up the challenge, and in between, he took advantage and re-mastered the album to make it a more incredible hit.
In February 2004, when College Dropout was released, the album was acclaimed and criticised simultaneously. As a result, he pushed the release dates about ten times ahead, which caused him to earn a certification as triple platinum.
After the first album’s success in 2005, Kanye started working on his next production, Late Registration, which he poured $2 million into. The album was a great hit that earned him a triple platinum certification, selling over 2.5 million copies that year.
After those two, the successes of the following albums, like Graduation and the Rest, were tremendous.
Produced in 2013, Yeezus caught the attention of many, where it was at the top of the chart, Billboard 200, among other worldwide charts. In 2916, he produced The Life of Pablo, and the success was like that of Yeezus.
He later produced a collaboration with Paul McCartney and Rihanna, FourFiveSeconds, that also hit the US R&B chart. A year later, he was nominated six times for the Grammy Award. With all the success stories, for the first time, Kanye produced an album that did not hit platinum status, Ye, which he released in 2018.
In addition to producing his music, he still went on to produce music for artists like XXXTentacion and Kid Cudi, where he was featured in most of their videos.
In addition to producing movies, Kanye had other rap-related shows, like The Sunday Service, that started performing in 2019. He also partnered with Beecroft Vanessa on two soaps; Mary and Nebuchadnezzar.
Real Estate
The total worth of His real estate is about $159 million. The million-dollar estate includes land, homes and buildings, but he mainly resides in the Hidden Hills suburbs of Los Angeles, California.
In 2014, Kanye bought his first land at $ 23 million; since then, he has added other pieces of connected land.
Kanye built a mansion on about 4.6 acres as his primary idea. As time passed, he kept expanding and customising the villa to his desire until 2019, when he bought the adjacent pieces of land. He then developed his estate, which lay on 8 acres of land.
He spent $30 million primarily on his home with his wife when he built the Hidden Hills, where he still lives, and spends millions on regular renovations. Currently, the value of Hidden Hills is about $90 million.
2021 after he divorced Kim Kardashian, he was offered about $24 million to hand over the estate to his ex-wife. She also added about $3 million to purchase the houses’ interiors. That same month, Kanye bought a beachfront mansion for about $60 million in Malibu.
Kanye still owns other pieces of land that are worth millions of dollars. He has 321 acres of land that boasts a total of $16 that you will find in Calabasas on the Stokes Canyon Lane, where he holds the Sunday services.
A few years ago, Kanye began building a line of doomed houses on the 320-acre land, but the L.A. County building commission shut the construction as he did not have the proper permit.
His most extensive piece of land is the Bighorn Ranch located in Wyoming, that’s about 6800 acres and has a value of $16 million. It is followed by 1400 acre Monster Ranch which has a value of about $ 15 million.
We finalise the list with his Cody commercial land, that’s about $ 3 million. With more than $ 140 million worth of property, Kanye is not a broken man.
This Is How Kanye Built His Net Worth
Kanye got his riches from billion-dollar business deals but majorly from his music. Although he is famous and, as a result, his music sells million-worth of albums, the Yeezy shoe line is where his goldmine. He owns the entire brand, but he still collaborated with Adidas in the launch of the brand.
In 2013, after he released Yeezus, he was followed by massive applause and critical. To honour the album, he borrowed part of the title Yeezus to name his shoe brand, Yeezy, which collaborated with Adidas.
2016 marked the official launch of Yeezy season 2, which he named Adidas Yeezy Boost 750 sneakers. The shoe line has earned him millions of dollars thanks to the collaboration with Adidas.
In 2021, Kanye divorced Kim Kardashian after being married a long time. The statement about their divorce has yet to be released to the public. However, West seemed to have moved on as he has then dated Julia Fox, then later wife Bianca Censori, the famous architect.
However, recently he was let go by Addidas because of inconsistent statements he made about Jews Drew. As a result, his net worth has dropped and will likely keep dropping unless he does something about it. However, Adidas said that the fallout with Yeezy cost them a ton of millions.
Music Career: Where It All Began
Kanye West started as a producer, collaborating with then-music icons like Beyonce and Jay-Z. However, he got into the limelight when he released his album The College Dropout in 2004 and got into the spotlight.
Ever since he has produced a couple of albums that have been hit, the most popular ones being Yeezus, The Life of Pablo, Jesus Is King and Ye, among others.
As a result of his music, he has been nominated and awarded 22 times at the Grammy Awards, which is not a number a lot of artists get to. Additionally, due to his popularity, he has sold millions of sales and toured worldwide, earning him millions of dollars in revenue.
The concerts he holds worldwide have also contributed considerably to his revenue.
Yeezy
Yeezy is the most significant contributor to Kanye West’s annual revenue. The shoe line has made tremendous waves in the shoe industry. In 2013, he ended a collaboration with Nike and collaborated with Adidas, and in 2015, he launched The Yeezy Boost, a highly valued sneaker.
A report from Forbes shows that Kanye earned more than $1.6 billion in sales in 2020 alone and an additional $200 million in royalties. The information indicates that Yeezy is the most significant contributor to Kanye’s Net worth.
Other Ventures
Kanye West also dipped his toes in the film industry when he produced The Runaway in 2010, and the Jesus is King film that was a hit on I.M.A.X. in 2019, but the music industry is where he dominates. In 2004, he started the G.O.O.D. label that has since continuously signed major artists like Pusha T and Big Sean, making him a couple of million dollars.
As a businessman, he continues to invest in various ventures; he recently put millions into the Fatburger food chain and Tidal. All these investments have significantly contributed to his Net worth and cemented his identity as an entrepreneur.
Philanthropy
In 2003, Kanye West began a foundation, the Kanye West Foundation, that revolved around reducing the number of students who dropped out of high school and directing money towards music schools.
Recently, he started a foundation, Donda West Foundation, that was meant to honour his mother. Kanye continues to put in effort towards charity and social justice events as a way of doing good for society.
Kanye West Car Collection
- His cars add up to a total of about $8 million.
- His car collection includes; Maybach 57, Lamborghini and a B.A.C. Mono
- In 2012, he sold his customised Maybach 57 at $60,000, claiming the modification was unusual.
- The cars he owns are uncommon and expensive.
- He spends millions of dollars to customise his collection.
- Kanye prefers well-known brands like Marcedes, Bugatti, lamborgini6ans Aston Martin.
- You can tell he loves cars from his collection.
Kanye West Music Awards and Highlights
As a result of his outstanding music, he has received a couple of awards from the moment he joined music in 2000.
Here are the major ones:
- 22 Grammy Awards: with 22 Grammies, Kanye was recently named among the artists with the most Grammy Awards. He has made the headlines for The most incredible rap performance, album, and many more.
- Billboard Music: Besides the Total Rap Album award, Kanye has a record of 6 Billboard awards.
- B.E.T.: Besides being the Best Hip-hop artist in the male division, Kanye boasts 5 B.E.T. Awards.
- MTV Video: He has 21 music awards in the MTV world. He also managed to take home the award for best clip of the Year, dedicated to Bad Blood and Runaway.
- American Music: He made it as the American’s favourite rapper/ hip-hop artist, in addition to winning 4 Music Awards
- Brit: Kanye has taken home 5 Brit awards, not forgetting he was once the Best Solo Artist, male division internationally.
- B.E.T. Hip Hop: He was once the best producer after he was awarded 4 B.E.T. Hip Hop titles.
- MOBO: I’m adding to being the Best International Act; he won two MOBO titles.
- People’s Choice: Kanye was chosen as the most liked Hip-hop artist in addition to carrying home 3 People’s Choice Awards
The awards Kanye has all speak to the nature of his talent. He is a multi-talented person liked within his country and internationally.
Kanye West’s Controversies
Here are the ten controversies that made Kanye West appear on the screens for negative reasons:
- Fallout with Jay-Z: although Kanye West has been a great friend and a long-time music partner, they recently fell after Kanye criticised Jay-Z for abandoning him when his family struggled.
- Support of Donald Trump: Unexpectedly, Kanye made q public declaration that he supported Donald Trump, in addition to wearing a cap with trumps slogan, Make America Great Again, which did not lay well with most Americans.
- Ignorant comments: Kanye made an innocent comment in 2018 when he stated that people get enslaved by choice. That statement raised a lot of eyebrows from his fans.
- Bipolar issues: Kanye has been transparent about his bipolar disease. However, recently, the weird social media comments and posts he’s been making have raised eyebrows regarding his mental health. His public rages have also been a source of concern.
- Divorcing Kim Kardashian: although the details of their divorce were not publicised, there has been a lot of speculation regarding their divorce, with has negatively impacted his name.
- Music videos: although his music has been a hit, his videos with a lot of nudity and scenes suggesting sexual behaviour have not been the Best voice for his profile.
- Fallout with Drake: for a while now, there has been a fallout between Drake and West, with both of them throwing words at each other born on their social platforms and in their music.
- Fashion controversies: although Yeezy is his primary source of income, it has been profiled as too expensive yet low quality for a while now.
- Personal controversies: his past comments about President Bush, his short-term relationship with the famous designer Alexis and public friction with the paparazzo in 2013 have tarnished his image.
Kanye West Outside the Screen
West has also ventured into several successful endeavours away from his music mastery. Their most successful venture was when he opened his fashion line and pandered with Addidas and Nike, which gained popularity quickly; however, before he opened his shoe line that had partnered with Lois Vuitton and Nike, where he built his profile for fashion.
Additionally, he has been a great success in the film and T.V. business after producing several hit movies. He has also been featured in various movies, like Anchorman 2.
He has also been a great success as a philanthropist. He founded 5the Kanye West, Foundation, whose foundation is reducing High School dropouts and promoting music in schools. He also founded the Donda West Foundation in honour of his mother, which has contributed towards society. Kanye West has donated significant amounts towards the Hurricane Katrina Foundation.
Kanye has invested in the tech and food chain business as a businessman. He also partnered with Jay-Z when launching a streaming service, Tidal.
During the Donald Trump campaign, he was vocal towards his stand (supporting Donald Trump), impacting him positively and negatively.
Kanye West Foundations
He is an internationally recognised musician, rapper and producer. However, he has also ventured into fashion and charity work, advocating to eradicate hunger, poverty, and school dropout issues.
To help curb the number of high school dropouts, he founded the Donda West Foundation alongside his mother in 2005.
When he created his foundation, the Kanye West Foundation, his primary goal was to support needy students and empower them to venture into the music industry as they sharpened their academic knowledge.
His passion towards empowering people to pursue music originated from the fact that it was music that helped him stay out of trouble in high school.
Although he dropped out of campus, his belief in education is intact. He has donated to courses like Human Rights Watch, Oxfam America and Doctors Without Borders.
After the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, he contributed towards helping the victims affected by the hurricane.
Finally, he developed a lunchbox that was sold to add to the Food Bank in New York and the Lunchbox Fund. These projects demonstrate how Kanye uses fame and popularity to improve the world.
Kanye West Love Quests
Here are his romantic conquests:
- Between 2001 and 2009-Alexis Phifer: after dating for four years, the couple got engaged in 2006, but they broke up two years later due to unknown reasons.
- Between 2009 and 2011- Amber: barely a year after his break up with the fashion designer, he got entangled with the model Amber. They dated for a short time before breaking up for personal reasons.
- 2010- Selita Ebanks: shortly after he broke up with Amber Rose, Kanye got together with Selita Ebanks, though they did not publicly confirm the state of their relationship.
- Between 2011- 2022- Kim Kardashian: Kim was Kanye’s longest relationship. They dated for two years before marrying in 2014 and got four kids between those years. However, they did not state their cause of separation when Kim hinted that nobody could solve their cause of separation.
Kanye is famous for saying successful and high-profile women hence dealing with publicised separations.
Why Was Kanye West Suspended From TWITTER?
The famous rapper was recently suspended from Twitter a second time. About two months after the account was restored, his account was deactivated after Twitter said that he had violated some of their rules.
His account was suspended about 45 minutes after Elon Musk responded to a comment regarding Kanye’s account on Twitter.
During a live stream, Kanye had been seen siding with Nazis and Hitler. He later followed to praise them by sharing a picture of a cross with a hook on Twitter, which caused the ban of his account. West claimed to agree with Hitler and the Nazis during an interview with Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist.
The new Twitter C.E.O., Elon Musk, recently welcomed Kanye back on Twitter after restoring his account in October.
But Elon Musk recently replied to a comment on Twitter saying that Kanye was inducing violence on Twitter which is against their policy. As a result, he has his account suspended for the second time.
Why Did Kanye West Divorce, Kim Kardashian?
The reason for their divorce remains unclear, although Kim stated that it resulted from unsolvable issues between the two. As of 2021, it was official that Kim and Kanye were officially divorced. However, the divorce terms are that Kanye will send Kim $200,000 as child support.
However, both of them will share custody of their four children. As per the law, the kids will mostly spend their time with their mother, but Kanye will cater for half of their needs, which Kim will pay for. The conditions are; security, college, and education.
Kim filed for an official separation in 2021, claiming the two had huge differences. They had been married for seven years until a judge proclaimed them officially divorced in 2023. They had issues with the property, but they have reached an agreement. Their case was set for December 14, 2022, but it was postponed.
Does Kanye Make Much Money From Spotify?
Spotify is known to pay artists peanuts per stream. They pay about $0.004 for each stream, but some artists are asking for tighter rates of $0.008, which is still relatively low.
However, despite the low payments, Kanye has enough subscribers to earn him a decent amount on Spotify. He’s expected to reach about $3,800,600 from his most famous songs. In 2021 he was the first artist to hit over 1 billion streams from Spotify.
On Tidal, The Life of Pablo had over 250 million streams within ten days of its release. (2016)
Does Touring Make Kanye a Lot of Money?
Most of Kanye’s income from his music comes from his world tours. Every time he shows up, there’s usually a massive turn-up; that money added to the sales of his albums while touring makes him a decent amount of money.
It’s said that his income is more than that of Yeezy. Glow in the Dark earned him $ 31 million, while the collabo with Jay-Z (Watch the Throne tour) added $ 76 million. Yeezus Tour earned him $32 million.
When he toured Saint Pablo, he made about $53 million, a bit lower than expected. However, the fall resulted in the show’s cancellation because he was hospitalised after Kim was robbed at gunpoint.
What Are Kanye’s Rates for Features?
The amount he charges has yet to be officially highlighted, but it is six figures like most artists. Minaj charges between $200,000 – $600,000, while Lamar charges about $250,000. Therefore it’s expected that Kanye falls in the same ranks.
How Many Homes Does West Have?
He has two homes worth $14 million located In in Wyoming. He also owns about 45pp acres of land in Monster Lake Ranch.
He also has a home at Bighorn Mountain Ranch, a 5- bedroomed and 4- bathed with the facilities you could think of, From saunas to servers distributed through the ranch.
Together with Kim, they bought a home worth &20 million and then spent more than $ 20 million on renovation costs, which valued the property at $ 60 million. Afterwards, they bought land worth $ 3 million and an estate worth $ 7 million.
After their divorce, Kardashian bought the house at $ 25 million from Kanye, where she lives with their children.
In 2017 they sold a mansion for about $18 million. Shortly after, West bought his then-wife a house worth $15 in Miami. Since the details of their divorce are unclear, we don’t know who owns the Miami home.
Does Kanye Have Many Investments?
Image Source- Instagram
As of 2020, from a report by Forbes, Kanye had about $35 as stock and $18 as cash. Although the number is high, it’s low compared to his past investments.
However, in 2021, he doubled that amount where he had about $130 as stock and in cash. Aside from that, he has asserted worth billions of dollars, including an investment he made in Kim’s business.
Since the details of their divorce are unclear, we can’t tell how it affected his finances.
Does Kanye Make Much in a Year?
His annual income depends on the number of tours he makes that year. For example 2019, he made about $160 million from his businesses. However, that amount will likely decrease after his fallout with Adidas.
What Are His Daily Earnings?
Assuming he makes an average of $ 150 million annually, divided by 365 days a year, he earns about $410.000 per day. That number is, however, expected to go down after his fallout with Adidas.
Does Kanye West Earn Much for Each Show?
In an interview, Kanye stated he makes about $8 million from each concert. That number depends on factors like the location of the tour. However, based on expert analysis, it was reported that Kanye exaggerates the amount he makes for each concert; the report said he makes about $ 1 million.
F.A.Q.s
How Rich Is Kanye West?
West is the wealthiest African American man with assets and businesses worth more than $6 billion. He is also the first African American to hit that target. His shoe line, Yeezy, significantly contributes to his revenue and adds millions to his account. He also gases a catalogue and real estate that total more than $ 200 million.
Is Kanye West a Millionaire?
His total assets translate to millions, making him a millionaire.
Has Kanye West Hit the Billionaire Mark?
His shoe line business, Yeezy, and sales from his records have made him a billionaire.
Who Is the Wealthiest Rapper?
Kanye is currently the wealthiest rapper, with his property exceeding that is other famous rappers like Jay-Z, Russel Simmons and Drake, among other rappers.
Has Kanye Ever Been Broke?
He was once in debt but has since recovered and is now the wealthiest rapper. Kanye is far from being broke.
Is Kanye From a Wealthy Family?
Kanye was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Kanye had to work hard to get to his league and find his way through the system.