Ye Loses Billionaire Status: Adidas Will Lose More Than $600 Million After Cutting Ties With Rapper

Shares of the athletic apparel giant adidas fell Tuesday when it disclosed a nine-figure loss after cutting ties with Kanye West.

Forbes reports adidas was already dealing with a slump in sales when the College Dropout rapper began making controversial statements.

The brand disclosed a 2022 loss of $247 million in sales from West’s Yeezy line and as a result, its shares fell 5.6%. Bernstein Analyst Aneesha Sherman told Forbes that adidas confirmed it will shut down the Yeezy line entirely. Bernstein cut adidas’ 2023 revenue forecast by $398 million bringing the total loss for the brand to $645 million.

West has made several controversial statements in recent weeks including suggesting that George Floyd‘s death was due to fentanyl use. The rapper also tweeted that he was “going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” adding, “I can’t be anti-Semitic because Black people are actually Jew also.”

West also claimed on a since-deleted episode of the Drink Champs podcast that Jewish people hold immeasurable power in the media. The rapper all but dared adidas to cut ties with him saying on the podcast:

“The thing about it being adidas, I can say anti-Semitic things and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?”

West was also seen at his fashion week show in Paris with Republican pundit Candace Owens wearing matching White Lives Matter sweaters earlier this month.

Like Adidas, West’s pockets are much lighter as a number of his business partners, including Gap, Balenciaga, JPMorgan Chase, The CAA Talent Agency which represented West, and film and TV studio MRC have cut ties. West was also locked out of his Twitter account.

The end of those relationships has cost the rapper his billionaire status as his net worth has dropped to $400 million. Forbes reports the remainder of West’s fortune includes real estate, cash, his discography and a 5% stake in ex-Wife Kim Kardashian‘s shapewear line Skims. West’s removal from the billionaire list marks the end of a long fight between him and Forbes, who he clained routinely undervalued his net worth including when he first made the list in 2020.

According to Forbes, without the adidas deal, West’s net worth has dropped from $1.5 billion to $400 million.

West has made a career out of making controversial statements and moments, including the time he said former President George Bush didn’t care about Black people during a Hurricane Katrina fundraiser, cutting off Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009, claiming in 2018 that slavery was a choice, and threatening comedian Pete Davidson, who dated Kardashian.