Just a few years ago, Kanye West was reportedly in massive debt trying to get his clothing line off the ground. Now, his vision has come to pass, and his company is a smashing success.
Besides his love of music, Kanye West loves fashion. But instead of just buying clothes, West has built a fashion empire that is bringing in major coin.
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.
The incredibly popular Yeezy sneaker line, which began at Nike, now with Adidas, is projected to make over $1.5 billion in sales in 2019. West is said to have taken home over $150 million in income over the past year, as reported by 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 said to get a royalty rate of 5 percent on the Air Jordan line, which does annual sales of about $3 billion.
West has had a major turnaround from a few just a few years ago. He sent social media ablaze when he asked Mark Zuckerberg to invest $1 billion in his “ideas” and claimed to be $53 million in debt.
“I’m just blessed through the grace of God to go from tweeting at Mark Zuckerberg” to ask for money, West says, to where he is today. He can laugh at himself a little now. “People wondered, ‘Why did you tweet at Mark Zuckerberg?’ And I was like, ‘Hey, I heard he was looking for aliens.’ ”