Forbes has disproven media outlets stating that Kanye West is the richest Black person in America, worth as much as $6.6 billion. Bloomberg had reported that his sneakers brand Yeezy and Yeezy Gap have a combined value of as much as $4.7 billion. The publication also mentioned an additional $1.7 billion in assets. However, Forbes disapproved it based on their calculation, estimating that his worth is less than a third of that, or $1.8 billion due to the fact that it is 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. It noted that Vista Equity's Robert F. Smith remains the richest Black person in the United States, worth an estimated $6 billion, while Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, worth $11.8 billion, is the richest Black person in the world. In the past, Kanye West had said that Forbes was 'purposely snubbing", but Forbes have stated that it is nothing personal. According to them, "The Bloomberg story cites a UBS report on his businesses—the same document Forbes saw earlier this month. The bank made a number of assumptions based on projected future earnings, particularly for Yeezy Gap, which hasn’t even launched yet. Bank documents like this are well known for painting best-possible-scenario future valuations." It stated that it is treating West the same way they do everyone else with similar royalty-based businesses. In their words, "We take the most recent year's licensing income and apply a multiple to it to account for the fact that this is an ongoing revenue stream. This is how we value Donald Trump’s licensing businesses and Jay-Z’s music catalogue. "West’s wildly optimistic approach to his net worth mirrors the approach used by Donald Trump, who insists the value of his name be included in any net worth estimate. Trump, who we value at $2.5 , says his brand has an intrinsic value, regardless of actual revenue. West and his camp are making a similar argument for businesses attached to the Yeezy name."
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