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Forbes isn’t ready to crown Kanye West the wealthiest Black American ever.
On Thursday, People and Bloomberg News reported that they had reviewed a document from investment banking firm UBS Group AG which valued West’s Adidas and Gap business deals at $3.2 billion to $4.7 billion which would put his net worth at over $6.6 billion.
Via People
The 43-year-old rapper is worth $6.6 billion, a significant increase from the amount that West was reported as being worth back in April 2020 by Forbes, PEOPLE confirms.
Led by his sneaker and apparel business Yeezy, which is now in partnership with Adidas AG and Gap Inc., the business is valued between $3.2 billion and $4.7 billion by UBS Group AG..
Forbes, which estimates Kanye’s net worth at $1.8 billion, immediately tried to debunk claims that West was worth over $6 billion.
No, Kanye West is not the richest Black person in America—here’s why: https://t.co/gLy0AlEmbE pic.twitter.com/x2rDFJ1puc
— Forbes (@Forbes) March 18, 2021
Via Forbes
Reports that the celebrity is worth nearly $7 billion are based on the magical thinking around sales that don’t yet exist. This is why he’s currently worth less than one third of that.
Based on our calculations. Forbes estimates he’s worth less than a third of that, or $1.8 billion. That’s a big jump from last May when Forbes first pegged his net worth to be $1.3 billion, but nowhere near as much as the purported $6.6 billion. Vista Equity’s Robert F. Smith remains the richest Black person in the U.S., worth an estimated $6 billion, while Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, worth $11.8 billion, is the richest Black person in the world.
The sky-high estimate is the latest of West’s attempts to inflate his net worth—in the past he’s said that Forbes was “purposely snubbing me.”
Even if Kanye isn’t worth $6 billion, he’s still a billionaire and making more money than a majority of people in the world.