Kanye West No Longer Billionaire After Adidas Fallout
Kanye West's net worth has dropped significantly since Adidas severed ties with the rapper following his continued antisemitic remarks. The Yeezy designer's collaboration with the sportswear brand was worth about $1.5 billion, Forbes estimates, and without the deal, West's net worth has fallen to $400 million from about $2 billion as estimated in 2020.
The $400 million sum is tallied "from real estate, cash, his music catalog, and a 5 percent stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian's shapewear firm, Skims," Forbes reported on Tuesday, shortly after Adidas announced that it would no longer be working with West due to his antisemitic comments. "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 said in a statement.
"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," the statement added. Adidas said it will take a $246 million hit to its fourth-quarter sales as a result of its decision to end its partnership with West, which began in 2013 and expanded in 2016.
In early October Adidas put its partnership with West "under review" after West wore a "White Lives Matter" T-shirt and defended the statement publicly. The musician then went on a rant against Jewish people on the Drink Champs Podcast, saying, "I can say antisemitic s- and Adidas cannot drop me," and threatened on Twitter to "Go death con 3 [sic] on JEWISH PEOPLE."
Jonathan Greenblatt, the Anti-Defamation League CEO, called Adidas' announcement a "very positive outcome" in a statement. "It illustrates that antisemitism is unacceptable and creates consequences. Without a doubt, Adidas has done the right thing by cutting ties with Ye after his vicious antisemitic rants," he continued, thanking the "thousands of people who sent emails, the dozens of celebrities who spoke up, and the prominent brands who cut ties" to pressure Adidas into this decision. "In the end, Adidas' action sends a powerful message that antisemitism and bigotry have no place in society," he concluded.