Report: Kanye West’s Yeezy Gap Deal Valued at Nearly $1 Billion
Samantha McDonald
Business Editor
Kanye West‘s partnership with Gap Inc. is proving to be lucrative.
According to a “private document” obtained by Bloomberg, investment banking firm UBS Group AG valued the Yeezy and Gap deal, which was announced in late July, as high as $970 million. It added that West’s sneaker and apparel business with both Gap and Adidas AG could be worth as much as $3.2 billion through $4.7 billion.
Last year, West revealed that he had inked a 10-year agreement to design and sell clothing for men, women and children under the Yeezy Gap label. (The arrangement does not include shoes.) It is expected to appear in Gap stores and on Gap.com this summer.
At the time of the announcement, Gap shared that the partnership would combine West’s “creativity, fashion leadership, global recognition and energy” and the chain’s “brand awareness, global reach and best-in-class supply chain.” It added that Yeezy would receive royalties and potential equity related to sales achievement.
The deal brought West’s relationship with the San Francisco-based company full circle: During his teenage years, the multihyphenate worked at one of Gap’s stores in Chicago. “We are excited to welcome Kanye back to the Gap family as a creative visionary, building on the aesthetic and success of his Yeezy brand and together defining a next-level retail partnership,” Gap brand global head Mark Breitbard said in a statement last summer.
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FN has reached out to Adidas and Gap for comment.
In October, filings with the Federal Elections Commission showed that West had reported his financial assets and liabilities as part of his run for president as an independent candidate. The documents, which were forwarded to the United States Office of Government Ethics for review and certification, showed that Yeezy LLC was his largest asset and worth “over $50 million.” Yeezy Apparel LLC and Yeezy Footwear LLC were also each valued at $50 million or more.
West’s financial empire, according to the forms, is worth at least several hundred million dollars: While his Yeezy entities dominate his list of assets (including Yeezy Marketing LLC, Yeezy Ventures LLC and Yeezy Construction Inc.), the entrepreneur also owns Mascotte Holdings Inc., which holds his music-related intellectual property and is valued between $5 million and $25 million, as well as content creation and publishing firm West Brands LLC, valued at up to $5 million.
What’s more, he has a stake in Adidas that’s worth between $25 million and $50 million, as well as another in Nike that’s in the range of $5 million through $25 million. He was listed in a leadership position at 29 different companies or firms. (As for debt and other financial burdens, West listed liabilities of up to $100 million, primarily in mortgages.)
