Kanye West’s sneaker empire is a billion-dollar enterprise, according to a new cover story on the rapper’s business
endeavors by Forbes magazine.
Revenue for the Yeezy sneaker line, now with Adidas, is set to top $1.5billion in 2019, and West’s pretax income over
the past 12 months came in at $150million, according to Forbes.
Since moving the Yeezy line from Nike to Adidas in 2013, West has struck what Forbes calls an ‘unprecedented deal’
for 15 percent royalty on wholesale, plus a marketing fee.
For comparison, Michael Jordan is thought to get royalties around 5 percent on the Air Jordan line, which does annual sales of about $3billion.
Kanye West is featured on the new cover of Forbes magazine, which chronicles his dramatic financial turnaround due in large part to his Yeezy shoe line
For comparison, Michael Jordan is thought to get royalties around 5 percent on the Air Jordan line, which does annual sales of about $3billion.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are seen above in NYC in December 2018 both sporting Yeezy footwear
‘The house was all him,’ Kardashian West told Forbes. ‘I’ve never seen anyone that pays such attention to detail’
West describes his foot line as ‘the Lamborghini of shoes’, a nod to the matte-black Lamborghini SUV he owns.
Forbes reports that West appeared for its cover photo shoot not once but twice wearing a black hoodie and that he called the editor to share his concern that the piece would not focus enough on the religious influence on his business.
West’s business fortunes mark a stunning reversal from just three years ago in late 2016, when he begged Mark Zuckerberg to invest $1billion in his ‘ideas’ and claimed to be $53million in debt.
‘I’m just blessed through the grace of God to go from tweeting at Mark Zuckerberg (to now)’.
He added: ‘People wondered, ‘Why did you tweet at Mark Zuckerberg?’ And I was like, ‘Hey, I heard he was looking for aliens.”
Soon after, he cancelled the latter half of a lucrative tour and checked himself into a Los Angeles hospital for over a week with symptoms of sleep deprivation and temporary psychosis, only to emerge in a bizarre meeting with Donald Trump, then the president-elect, at Trump Tower.
Pictured above in April- after five years of construction and renovations, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s sprawling Hidden Hills mansion was complete
West credits his dramatic turnaround to religion – ‘being in service to Christ, the radical obedience’ he says. He also claims that being bipolar has given him a ‘superpower’ that unlocks his imagination rather than serving as a hindrance.
‘Crazy is a word that’s not gonna be used loosely in the future,’ West says.
‘Understand that this is actually a condition that people can end up in, be born into, driven into and go in and out. And there’s a lot of people that have been called that ‘C’ word that have ended up on this cover,’ he told Forbes.
Now he is spending his shoe fortune on special Belgian plaster floors for the Los Angeles mansion he shares with wife Kim Kardashian West and their four children, North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm, according to Forbes.
If scuffed, the plaster can reportedly only be repaired by an elite team of plaster experts flown in from Europe.
Forbes’ O’Malley Greenburg detailed in the article how he was given ‘little cloth booties,’ to put over his shoes to protect the floor.
‘The house was all him,’ Kardashian West told Forbes. ‘I’ve never seen anyone that pays such attention to detail.’
In April Kim Kardashian allowed Vogue into the massive Hidden Hills mansion – which was designed by Axel Vervoordt and took years to complete – for its 73 questions interview.
During her chat, the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star played with all three kids on a bed while West served as babysitter in a very intimate look at their life.
Nearly every surface of the property is ‘a monastic shade of white’, Vogue reported. The living room, which is incredibly sparse, shows off an unbleached Steinway.
She describes her home as ‘minimal monastery’ and said it was inspired by Axel and Kanye.
Kim walked the Vogue staffer through the foyer and into a minimal bedroom featuring a white king-sized bed and a nightstand that had several books piled up.
There West was seen with North on his shoulders, Chicago playing with the musician and Saint near Kim.
He shares the home with wife Kim Kardashian West and their four children, North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm
West spends his shoe fortune on special Belgian plaster floors for the Los Angeles mansion he shares with wife Kim Kardashian West and their four children. They are seen above during a Vogue interview in April before the birth of Psalm
West first debuted his Yeezy shoes in 2009, after sketching out his ideas on a plane where he happened to be seated next to the CEO of Nike.
‘I am a product guy at my core,’ West told Forbes. ‘To make products that make people feel an immense amount of joy and solve issues and problems in their life, that’s the problem-solving that I love to do.’
Crucially, West maintained ownership over the Yeezy brand, allowing him to jump ship for Adidas when, he tells Forbes, Nike refused to pay royalties.
Forbes estimates West’s net worth at $240million, but says that he is on track to someday be a billionaire.