Kanye West Yeezy LLC Received Over $2 Million for COVID-19 Relief

The company says the loan helped Kanye West and Yeezy save the jobs of 160 employees.

In recent months, independent businesses and concert venues have pushed for a Paycheck Protection Program [PPP] loan from the federal government, in response to a statement economy due to COVID-19 quarantine.

On Monday, July 6th, the Small Business Administration revealed Kanye West's brand Yeezy received a sizable PPP loan to assist its employees. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, Yeezy received between $2 and $5 million from the government.

West's company disclosed that the loan saved the jobs of 160 Yeezy employees.

The bill, passed back in June, is designed to help small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. If businesses spend the funds on eligible costs, the loans are forgivable. However, the amount of forgiveness is reduced if the company downsizes the amount of full-time employees or cuts pay by more than 25 percent.

The SBA allowed companies with 500 or fewer employees apply for loans to cover eight weeks' worth of payroll. The loans cover up to two and a half times the company's average monthly payroll, up to $10 million. Payouts are capped at $100,000 per employee.

In the first round of payouts, large companies like Shake Shack drew backlash after reportedly taking millions in funds. In response to critique, the company eventually returned the $10 million it received. In a 10-page document, the government advised businesses to "make this certification in good faith, taking into account their current business activity and their ability to access other sources of liquidity sufficient to support their ongoing operations in a manner that is not significantly detrimental to the business."

Earlier in the year, Kanye West announced that he was a Billionaire on Forbes, largely due to his Yeezy brand and his deal with adidas. (Forbes would later dispute this.) Last week, Kanye revealed that his wife, Kim Kardashian-West, was a billionaire. (Forbes would also dispute this.)

Kanye West also recently announced a new 10 year deal with Gap. Oh, and he announced that he was running for president, but hasn't done shit about it.