10-25-2022
Kanye West plummets from billionaire list with loss
of Adidas deal.
Kanye West tumbled out of the ranks of billionaires after Adidas severed ties to him over a days-long series of anti-Semitic remarks.
The rapper and entrepreneur essentially dared the German athletic wear company, whose founder had Nazi ties, to severe their relationship by claiming he can "anti-Semitic sh*t and Adidas cannot drop me," which the company finally did Tuesday, costing West hundreds of millions, reported Forbes.
“Adidas does not tolerate anti-Semitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness,” the company stated in a press release.
“After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. Adidas will stop the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect.”
West's deal with Adidas was valued at $1.5 billion by Forbes, calculated off of a multiple of annual earnings, and the publication viewed those earnings as similar to royalties from music or film, and the Adidas income stream could have been sold off like musicians Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen have recently done with their catalogs.
The rapper, whose legal name is now Ye, has complained for years that Forbes undervalued his Adidas deal, which he claimed this year was worth $4.3 billion, but the publication said he's now worth
a fraction of that.
"Without Adidas, Ye is worth $400 million," the publication wrote.
"The remainder of Ye’s fortune, Forbes estimates, comes from real estate, cash, his music catalog,
and a 5 percent stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s shapewear firm, Skims."
Home 
