Billionaire media mogul Kanye West’s company, Yeezus, has filed several trademark applications–which seems to indicate Ye’s next move will be a deep dive into the Metaverse.
According to trademark attorney Josh Gerben, multiple U.S. federal trademark registration filings were submitted for Yeezus late last month.
The filings were for everything from board games, action figures, face masks, retail stores, computer goods, nail polishes, facial makeup, video game software, amusement park rides and more.
More interestingly were the applications for “blockchain-based non-fungible assets,” “currencies and tokens,” and “online retail store services featuring … digital art.”
While Kanye West diversifying his portfolio will come as a shock to absolutely no one, months back, Ye issued a stern warning to his followers.
“Do not ask me to do a f*cking NFT,” he wrote on Instagram. “STOP ASKING ME TO DO NFT’s I’M NOT FINNA CO-SIGN … FOR NOW I’M NOT ON THAT WAVE I MAKE MUSIC AND PRODUCTS IN THE REAL WORLD.”
The rapper/producer/fashion designer has always had a keen eye for business. As a high school student growing up in Chicago, he worked in a local GAP stop. In 2020, he inked a decade-long Yeezy deal with the clothing brand, taking his net worth from a reported $3.3 billion to $5 billion.
For West, extreme wealth was always a part of his plan.
“When I did Forbes, I showed them a $890 million receipt and they still didn’t say billionaire,” he said at the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York. “They don’t want us to know that we can buy land; they don’t want us to have the 100% ownership I have at Yeezy. When people say it’s crass to call yourself a billionaire, I say I might legally change my name to Christian Genius Billionaire Kanye West for a year until y’all understand exactly what it is… It will be on the license plate.”
Will Kanye West make his next billion in the metaverse?