Hip Hop

Jay-Z The Only Rapper On Forbes 2023 Billionaire List As Kanye West Falls Off

Jay-Z is now the only rapper who is a billionaire as Kanye West completely disappears from Forbes billionaire list

Jay-Z
Jay-Z

Kanye West is no longer on Forbes’ Billionaire list, making Jay-Z the only rapper on the list and the richest man in Hip Hop.

The latest Forbes’ Billionaire List 2023 shows “Gold Digger” rapper Kanye West being removed after his net worth plummeted following the end of his multi-billion dollar agreement with Adidas.

Kanye West became the richest rapper in or around 2019 after his relationship with Adidas bore fruit in the form of a billion-dollar deal. The two parties had been doing business since 2015, but Kanye’s Yeezy brand became immensely popular years later as fans and customers were willing to pay premium prices for his merchandise which included shoes and clothing.

Kanye had also insinuated he was a 7x billionaire in a song on his ‘Donda’ album in which he said he could gift all the people in the world’s seven (7) billion population a dollar.

It seems that the rapper might have been manifesting that net worth as he was taken off the list overnight but is now officially recorded by Forbes as no longer on the list of billionaires.

The latest list released on Tuesday (April 4) shows Jay-Z continues to grow his empire. He was previously noted to be $ 1.5 billion rich, but several of his venture deals have pushed his net worth to a whopping $2.4 billion. The publication highlighted several business ventures making up Jay-Z’s net worth, including his liquor, investments in real estate, 40/40 sports bars and lounges, and other assets. Still, it was his liquor holdings, which include his 50% stake in Armand de Brignac champagne brand that he sold to luxury brand LVMH, who co-owns Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, and his recent D’Usse deal with Bacardi that closed out to nearly a billion dollars.

Jay-Z continues to hold art pieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat and remains a shareholder in companies such as Uber and Block Finance. He previously owned the majority stake in TIDAL, which was sold a few years ago to Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.

Meanwhile, Kanye revealed last year that he was worth around half a million dollars after his Adidas deal tanked following weeks of racist and antisemitic rants online. Forbes is now reporting that Kanye is worth around $400 million.

As for billionaires, Jay-Z has company in the person of Diddy. Previously hip hop also had Dr. Dre on the list, but his net worth fell following the divorce from his wife, Nicole Young, and a $100 million settlement as part of the divorce.