Forbes has declared Kanye West a billionaire. The American financial magazine attributes the American rap singer’s success chiefly to the Yeezy brand of footwear and apparel, which is developed and marketed in collaboration with Adidas. Forbes featured West on the cover of its issue for Aug. 31, 2019, but had upset him by never including him on its annual “World’s Billionaires” list – for lack of documentation, according to Forbes. West has claimed to be worth $3 billion. Forbes comes to a different conclusion. It estimates West’s royalties from Yeezy to have been $140 million for 2019. At a multiple of 10, his stake in the brand would be worth $1.4 billion. “But it’s a private, highly illiquid $1.4 billion,” says the magazine. “Our rule-of-thumb for private assets like that is to lop off at least 10%. That’s $1.26 billion.”

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