News — sneakers

Kanye West is arguably one of the best musicians in the world. The rapper became a certified billion last April following the impressive success of his businesses. The 22 Grammy winner has a booming sneaker and apparel business, making him one of the most successful celebrities in the world.

The rapper turned entrepreneur is not just a billionaire but a multibillionaire following the latest estimate of his business deals. West is officially worth $6.6 billion, according to Bloomberg, making him the richest Black man in U.S. history.

This latest information about the worth of West comes following valuations prepared by investment bank UBS Group AG. Yeezy, West’s sneaker/apparel partnership with Adidas is worth between $3.2 billion and $4.7 billion, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg.

The African-American rapper owns a 100% stake in Yeezy and also has a partnership with The Gap which is valued at $1 billion. West also has additional income coming from his $110 million music catalog, $122 million in cash and stocks and business investments with his estranged wife Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS underwear brand.

Bloomberg reports that Gap expects its Yeezy line to break $150 million in sales in its first full year in 2022 and envisions it becoming a billion-dollar revenue brand in 2023.

The documents also showed that sales for Yeezy’s Adidas sneakers survived the effect of the pandemic by posting a growth of 31% and making nearly $1.7 billion in revenue while netting $191 million in royalties.

West had previously claimed he was worth $3 billion although Forbes published that his net worth was lower than he claimed. Displeased with Forbes’s valuation of his worth, Kanye, according to the People, texted Forbes, “It’s not a billion. It’s $3.3 billion since no one at Forbes knows how to count.”

With his current net worth of $6.6 billion, West has surpassed Oprah Winfrey’s $3.5 billion net worth, David Steward’s $3.9 billion net worth, and Robert F. Smith’s $6.5 billion, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Also, West’s current net worth makes him the third richest celebrity in the world, behind only Steven Spielberg ($7 billion) and George Lucas ($10 billion), according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Recently, West revealed his plan to build a ‘city of the future’ on an island in Haiti.

Touching on the subject during an interview on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast in October, the 43-year-old explained how the project would benefit locals on the island.

“We go to Haiti and the president gives us this island to develop; to make it a city of the future,” West said. “We’re gonna have the farmers and the people that live there take ownership of the land they have right now so when it raises in value, they all eat.”

West’s announcement of the partnership with Haitian president Jovenel Moïse and his government, however, did not sit down well with some people on social media, prompting him to clarify the details of the agreement on his Twitter page on October 27, GQ reported.

“Just to be CLEAR: WE ARE IN ENGAGED WITH HAITI’s GOVERNMENT to make a transformational INVESTMENT to bring JOBS, DEVELOPMENT, HELP SUPPORT LOCAL FARMERS and FISHERMEN and Build a new « CITY OF THE FUTURE » in a very beautiful country,” he tweeted.

At 29, Theo Baloyi has a made name for himself in South Africa as one of the thriving young entrepreneurs. His journey started when he met a French businessman with a shop at Durban Airport a few years ago. In a long conversation, the two of them talked about entrepreneurship and culture.

That was when the interest to go into entrepreneurship started for Baloyi. He told himself if he wanted to make an impact, he needed to take calculated risks. He then decided to venture into the footwear industry after noticing a market gap.

Through his research, he noticed that most of the sneakers on the continent were imported brands. And so he wanted to design something with an African touch. Initially, he wanted to import the sneakers from established brands but later decided against it.

In the process, Baloyi co-founded Bathu, a South African township slang for ‘shoes’, in 2015. His brand of sneakers is designed with a distinctive mesh fabric and thick white soles.

“I did 18 months of research and development, which included coming up with a proof of concept, quality testing and quality assurance,” Baloyi explained in an interview with Howwemadeitinafrica. Baloyi’s accounting experience helped in this regard. “I’ve been fortunate to have extensive experience with business and finance modelling in a corporate environment.”

According to him, he settled on the name Bathu because his business is about uniting people. “It doesn’t matter where you go, whether it’s a place filled with isiXhoa, isiZulu or Sepedi speaking people, South Africa know what it means. It unites us, and that’s what the business is about- uniting people,” he told news24.

Today, his shoe business makes a turnover of over $1 million. The company also has four cars, two stores at Gauteng, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth. 

South Africa is one of the unestablished markets for sneakers and so for most designs, manufacturing companies do not have the right equipment for it. And in some cases, the companies have to source the right equipment, by which time the designs submitted would have been outmoded.

“In South Africa, you need about eight months to manufacture a new shoe. In the East, this usually takes four weeks. While South African factories can buy expensive equipment to manufacture according to specific requirements, the trends and styles may no longer be current when the product is completed,” Baloyi told Howwemadeitinafrica.

Through his network, he found a manufacturer for his first 100 Bathu sneakers. “A colleague at PwC whose friend’s family owned a factory… So, I got to work,” he said. In 2017, he managed to release 1000 pairs of Mesh Edition sneakers through a collaboration with an incubation hub in Johannesburg.

Baloyi said his success even surprised him. “The rewards were are reaping now are pleasures I thought we’d only see a couple of years from now,” he said. “But through the hard work and perseverance of my team, we’ve come this far in just three years.”

According to the entrepreneur, he reinvested profit from his business in order to make it a sustainable venture. “Five years later, this is where we are: 15,000 pairs per month and it’s growing,” he said.

Currently, there are 12 Bathu retail outlets across the country, aside from the online store. The company employs 103 people.