Why Is Kanye West Losing So Much Money?

Kanye West is a business mogul with his fingers in a lot of pies. Aside from being a chart-topping rapper and producer, he is also a fashion designer, an occasional attempted politician, and has penned hits for a number of high-profile stars. And, as he bragged to Nick Cannon in 2020 (via Billboard), "I got more money than Trump." 

As of this writing, West has released 10 solo studio albums since 2004. He has scored 10 Number 1 albums on the US Billboard 200 and 20 top 10 hits on the US Hot 100. As noted by Second Hand Songs, the "All Falls Down" musician has written tracks for the likes of John Legend, Alicia Keys, and Madonna, to name a few. With more than 100 million digital downloads and album sales of over 21 million, it's safe to say West has earned quite a penny from his music. However, his fashion brand Yeezy definitely helped him become the mogul that he is today.

According to Forbes, West is currently worth a whopping $1.8 billion as of 2021. To this day, he still has a lucrative multi-year deal to design sneaker brand Yeezy for Adidas, which comes as no surprise as West made an estimated $1.7 billion last year. While he may be no longer with ex-wife Kim Kardashian, he still owns a small stake in her successful clothing brand Skims. With this all being said, the rap superstar seems to have lost quite a few million recently. So what's going on?

Despite being a billionaire and an ongoing successful business mogul, Kanye West has still found himself losing a lot of dollars. According to People, the "All of the Lights" hitmaker has put his ranch near Cody, Wyoming, up for sale for $11 million. Even though the chart-topping star will be taking home a lot of cash if it sells, he will also be taking a loss of $3 million, as the Grammy Award-winner previously purchased the ranch for $14 million. As previously reported by Business Insider, West originally bought the property in September 2019. The 4,000-acre, eight-unit property is close to Yellowstone National Park, and boasts amenities like a restaurant and two freshwater lakes, according to TMZ. West refers to the property as both West Lake Ranch and "Yeezy Campus." 

The property isn't West's only financial news as of late. As Forbes reported in January, there is roughly $70 million at stake in his divorce from Kim Kardashian — less than one might expect, thanks to their prenup. Of course, this is a man who claimed to be $53 million in debt in 2016, only to become a billionaire roughly three years later, so everything will likely work out just fine for West.