American rap icon Kanye West has now become the wealthiest black man in American history with a total net worth of US$6.6 billion.

After amassing billionaire status in 2020, with a Forbes report expressing his US$1.3 billion net worth last April, West has now increased his initial billionaire net worth six times over.

The 43-year-old rapper turned fashion and athletic shoe mogul, has his apparel and sneakers business to thank for the increase in net worth. After securing partnerships for his businesses with adidas and Gap Inc, valued between US$3.2 billion and US$4.7 billion according to a UBS Group AG report.

The Grammy winner’s collab with Gap is set to hit stores this summer and, according to Bloomberg, “could be worth as much as US$970 million” of the brand’s value.

Despite this, it is West’s shoe deal with adidas that remains his largest asset.
Amid pandemic fears, the sales for the Grammy winners adidas Yeezy sneakers remained resilient, growing 31 per cent to nearly US$1.7 billion in annual revenue last year and netting Yeezy US$191 million in royalties.

In addition to income from his Yeezy line, the Jesus is King artiste has also accrued US$122 million in cash and stock. Raked in US$110 million from his extensive catalog of music and has another US$1.7 billion in assets inclusive of his soon to be ex-wife, Kim Kardashian’s Skims shapewear brand.

The news of West’s heightened net worth is a far cry from when the Gold Digger rapper told BET in 2015 that he was US$16 million in debt, or from the public revelation in 2018 that the Ye artiste suffered from bipolar
disorder.

After making public his diagnosis on his 2018 album Ye, Kanye shared that when undergoing his manic episodes as a result of the disorder he often felt “hyper-paranoid about everything”.

“Everything’s a conspiracy. You feel the government is putting chips in your head. You feel you’re being recorded. You feel all these things.”

More than a story of a black man’s claim to fame, Kanye West’s journey is an indication that suffering from mental illness doesn’t have to limit one’s ability to attain success.