Kanye West is the subject of a new Forbes cover story that details the growth of his Yeezy footwear and apparel business into a billion dollar empire. The article includes a vaguely haunting scene where West shows off a parking lot behind his Calabasas office filled with hundreds of Adidas sneaker prototypes, laid out in concentric circles, and reprimands the reporter for asking the specific number of shoes on display. “You can’t calculate love,” he says. “These things are made to bring incalculable joy.”
Alas, the article was assigned as part of Forbes‘ annual estimations of celebrities’ annual incomes, so a calculation is what we received. According to the magazine’s methods, West made $150 million over the past 12 months. “His team insists the number is even higher,” the magazine writes. Yeezy, as a business, which West owns outright and from which he earns royalties, is reportedly expected to top $1.5 billion in sales in 2019. It’s apparently been West’s most lucrative year ever, despite the relative commercial flop of his album Ye last summer.
The story also includes quotes about “radical obedience” to Jesus and a Lamborghini tour of West’s Star Wars-inspired affordable housing prototypes. You may read the full piece, if you’d like, here.
