Forbes Names Kanye West The Highest Paid Musician Of 2020
The saga of Kanye West and Forbes’ love-hate relationship continues! A little over a month ago, Forbes officially declared him a billionaire after a solid year of Kanye trying to get them to recognize him as Christian Genius Billionaire Kanye West. (He was still mad, because he says he’s actually worth $3 billion.) And now, Forbes has named him the highest paid musician of 2020.
Kanye apparently raked in a pre-tax income of $170 million, mostly from Yeezy’s deal with Adidas, putting him at the #2 spot on the magazine’s annual list of the highest-paid celebrities behind his sister-in-law Kylie Jenner and her staggering $590 million. Kanye is the only musician in the top 10, which is rounded out by Roger Federer, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Tyler Perry, Neymar, Howard Stern, LeBron James, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
The next highest paid musician is Elton John at #14 with $81 million. Ariana Grande pulled in $72 million, the Jonas Brothers $68.5M, the Chainsmokers $68M, and Ed Sheeran $64M. Kanye’s once and future nemesis Taylor Swift — who topped last year’s Celebrity 100 ranking with $185 million, her biggest earning year ever — is down to #25 with $63.5M.
Forbes World's Highest Paid Musicians (2020)
#1 Kanye West $170M
#2 Elton John $81M
#3 Ariana Grande $72M
#4 Jonas Brothers
#5 Chainsmokers
#6 Ed Sheeran
#7 Taylor Swift
#8 Post Malone
#9 Rolling Stones
#10 Marshmello
#11 Shawn Mendes
#12 Jay-Z
#13 Billie Eilish
#14 BTS
#15 Drake— chart data (@chartdata) June 4, 2020
At least Kanye is using some of that money for good. TMZ reports that he has has donated $2 million to the families and legal teams of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. He’s set up a 529 college savings fund to fully cover tuition for Floyd’s 6-year-old daughter, Gianna. And he’s also donating to several black-owned businesses in his hometown of Chicago and throughout the country.