Forbes: Kanye West officially a billionaire

Kanye West, US rapper and record producer, has been officially declared a billionaire by Forbes.

Forbes, in a blog post on Friday, said the declaration comes on the heels of several requests made by the 42-year-old Chicago-born rapper to be confirmed a billionaire — which were denied for lack of validation.

“After months of requests, the hip-hop superstar shared financial records, revealing details about his wildly popular Yeezy sneaker empire — and his fixation on outside validation,” it wrote.

The magazine said the ‘Ye’ crooner reached the milestone with a net worth of $1.3 billion after totaling the artist’s assets including his Yeezy sneaker collaboration with Adidas.

“All told, our current net worth estimate for Kanye West: $1.3 billion, which he’ll be pleased to note is $300 million more than little sister Kylie,” the magazine wrote.

Forbes, however, reported that Kanye sent a text claiming he is worth $3.3 billion. “It’s $3.3 billion since no one at Forbes knows how to count,” he was said to have written.

The development makes West the second hip-hop artist to attain the billionaire status.

Shawn Carter, rapper and entrepreneur better known as Jay Z, became the first to attain the feat last year with a net worth of $1 billion, according to the magazine. 

TheCable Lifestyle had also reported how West emerged the magazine’s hip-hop’s highest earner for the year 2019 ahead of Jay Z.