Kanye West might be months away from financial ruin.
Sources indicate that while the rapper has a significant hoard of cash, he also has massive costs and might be in danger soon if he doesn’t find a way to change the tide.
According to people acquainted with his finances, West has five sources of income, four of which have been either entirely cut down or severely harmed by his anti-Semitic outburst and support for white nationalists.
West is said to have generated money in recent years via his enormous Adidas agreement, his Gap partnership, his music catalogue, selling new albums, and shows.
Adidas, the true source of his huge fortune, had previously said earlier this week that once its large Yeezy footwear agreement with him expired, payments would be promptly halted.
Sources believe it will be difficult to challenge that decision since his threats against Jews and the event in which he played porn to Adidas executives “mean they can play hardball.”
Gap reportedly owes him money for the YEEZYxGAP products that were sold between the end of the partnership and Tuesday, when it stated that it was withdrawing his goods from stores due to the scandal.
In terms of concerts, which should be the easiest money a star like West can make and a reliable source of quick liquid cash, he was scheduled to perform at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on November 4 but that was canceled by the venue, he has no more booked, and venues are unlikely to book him in light of the scandals, according to insiders.
In terms of new music, we’re informed West has an album in the works, but there’s no arrangement in place to distribute it. His contract with Def Jam expired in 2021. According to an insider, the album will still give some sort of lifeline, but he’s unlikely to earn as much as he has for prior records.
“He’s a many-time Grammy winner and he has such a large following that his albums go platinum instantly,” said the source, adding that it’s hard to believe that nobody would be willing to accept such a can’t-lose deal.
That leaves royalties, which, according to Billboard, net him roughly $5 million every year. “That’s about enough to pay his jet’s gas bill,” one insider joked. The music industry claimed in September that West’s team tested the waters for selling his collection for roughly $135 million, but there was no serious interest.
Meanwhile, he’s said to have “a lot of cash by anyone’s standards,” but also a “high cash burn rate.”
West purchased a $57 million mansion in Malibu, California, last year and gutted it. It is now being rebuilt basically from the ground up. We’ve been warned that the project is jeopardized due to his financial difficulties. He also owns a number of other properties, although we’re informed that many of them are mortgaged.
West, of course, has had financial difficulties in the past. Let’s not forget that he claimed in 2016 that he was $54 million in debt, owing to his several efforts to create a fashion brand and his free-spending habit.
According to an insider, West’s luxurious lifestyle is built on the Adidas agreement, and everything else is gravy. But, with the shoe brand on the decline, he’s lost around three-quarters of his net worth, according to Forbes — a significant hole to fill.
According to insiders, even though he has more than $100 million in the bank, he only has enough to survive “months.”