Inside Kanye West's Major Money Troubles (& How He Lost Billions)

Kanye West's net worth used to be even higher than most people thought. Forbes once confirmed that West became a billionaire thanks in large part to his Yeezy clothing brand. The "Stronger" artist claimed loudly that he was already a billionaire before Forbes reevaluated his finances, and felt his net worth was intentionally being downplayed until he was vindicated by the publication. But, the disagreement would soon be rendered irrelevant.

West quickly lost his billionaire status after Adidas dropped him and his Yeezy sneakers after making controversial antisemitic remarks. The comments were some of the most problematic and shocking things that the fashion designer had ever done, and caused his net worth to plummet to an estimated $400 million. West would later lose even more money when his girlfriend, Bianca Censori, turned out to be one of the worst-dressed stars at the 2025 Grammys with her basically-naked appearance.

The incident did more than inspire think-pieces, however, and cost West a performance gig at the Tokyo Dome. West lost an opportunity to make $20 million after the Japan show was canceled. A source told the Daily Mail that West's and Censori's behavior wasn't welcomed in a country that was making tremendous strides regarding women's rights. "Japan is having a cultural awakening about women's rights and the MeToo movement is really strong here. What he did is being seen as an act of coercive control which is utterly unacceptable. He has completely culturally misjudged Japan," the insider said.

Kanye West confided that he almost didn't rebound financially after he lost $2 billion in one day. The hit his wallet took forced West to live out scenarios he might not have experienced in years, such as turning to a friend to pay for his meals while dining. He and his pal, Justin Laboy, revisited the incident on The Download podcast. "We were going there to eat every day. I remember when they froze your accounts. Man, I remember I had to put my little American Express down. That was the first time I saw a billionaire have no access to money," Laboy remembered. Additionally, West once explained that he was on the verge of filing for bankruptcy when he lost the Adidas deal.

But West didn't stop working, and told TMZ that he was able to make a decent recovery after perhaps his biggest failure. "I'ma just be honest with y'all: I was two months from going bankrupt and I put everything I had into it and we moved to Italy," West said. "We moved to the factories and we survived. We survived through the cancellation. We back No. 1." If West is to be believed, he's reclaimed his billionaire status. Although publications like Forbes still list him at $400 million, Eton Ventures Services estimates that West's net worth is $2.77 billion (per E! News). In true West fashion, he couldn't help but to brag about the claim.