Kanye West Is Done With Corporate America. He’ll Go It Alone

The rapper and designer, who now goes by Ye, says he is done with his corporate partners and is going to start his own business.

Ye said that it was time for him to go it alone. It's alright. I was able to make the companies money. I got money from the companies. We came up with ideas that will change clothing. The slides have changed the shoe industry. The time has come for Ye to start a new industry. Companies stand in between me and the audience.

With billions of dollars in revenue and two of the fashion industry's most lucrative royalty deals at stake, Ye has shown full willingness to publicly battle the same corporations he has worked most closely with, but there are obstacles to a clean break. His high-profile, long-term arrangement with Adidas AG to produce sneakers like the Yeezy boost 350, which expires in 2026, and an apparel agreement with Gap Inc., which ends in 2030. They will just have to work together.

Ye mentioned his new baby mamas. We are going to have to co- parent those 350s.

Representatives for Gap and Adidas didn't reply.

Ye wants to open his own Donda campuses, which will house shopping, schools, farms and dorms all together. He said he is working with a former Adidas executive who runs an independent plant-based clothing operation. Potential job candidates with expertise in opening retail networks have been urged to reach out to him.

He will continue to operate the e- commerce shop that serves as the primary release point for new goods, hitting the market in an endless series of product drops.

Gap and Adidas have bet big on Ye's label, hoping to grab consumers' attention and drive sales. The top executives at Adidas and Gap were ousted in July. Gap has an interim chief in charge as both look for replacements who will inherit their relationships with Ye, who has had problems with his corporate partners recently. He has asked to be added to the boards of both Adidas and Gap but has been unsuccessful.

Ye said that if he argued with a broker than he would get a broker.

Longstanding Disagreements

Adidas makes and distributes footwear for Ye. He doesn't like how the line is managed, especially when he hasn't been consulted on planning and strategy

Ye, who hasn't shut up in recent weeks, said that no one should be held in that position where people can steal from them. That causes creativity to be destroyed. That was the cause of the destruction of NikolaTesla

Gap has a billion-dollar ambitions for the line and has been rolling out clothes like hoodies, anoraks and t-shirts. He joined Gap because he wanted to sell his designs at a cheaper price.

There was something in the way of my career.

He had moved his money from his bank to another one.

Ye said that he felt like there was a lot of controlling and handling that prevented him from affecting the American economy and industry.

Complex Finances

The saga of Ye's finances is complex, going back several years to when he said he was saddled with millions in debt. He had $122 million in cash and stock, with billions more in other assets, according to an unaudited balance sheet. His business made $191 million in royalties from the Adidas deal alone in 2020.

He used to keep his money at a Wyoming bank. After moving to a small town with a population of 10,000, he decided to cut his ties to the state. He put one of his ranches up for sale around the time of Ye and Kim's divorce. The real estate listing states that the ranch has been taken off the market.

Ye wants to negotiate with Adidas to get a 20% royalty on all the shoes he designs with the company in perpetuity and save it for his four children.

Ye said that he had been playing nice up to this point.