African-American billionaire Kanye West, now known as “Ye,” has agreed to buy social networking platform Parler for an undisclosed sum after being suspended from Twitter for violating its content policies.
Last week, Twitter Inc. removed an anti-Semitic post from Ye’s account and locked it, just a day after he returned to the platform for the first time in nearly two years. Instagram, which is owned by Meta Platforms Inc., also removed posts containing anti-Semitic language.
“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial, we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” Ye explained, clarifying the reasoning behind the purchase.
The multi-industry creative entrepreneur, who launched his clothing line, including his Yeezy Boost sneakers with Adidas, in February 2015, stated that he was motivated to acquire Parler from its parent company, Parlement Technologies Inc. because existing platforms such as Instagram and Twitter are too restrictive in terms of user free speech.
“When I got kicked off of Instagram and Twitter at the time, I knew it was time to acquire my own platform,” Ye told Bloomberg. “People had talked about it and mentioned this idea for years, but enough was enough.”
He explained that Parler is for people like him who have been punished by much larger platforms and that the conservative social networking platform will be used as a net for people who have been bullied by the thought police to come and speak their minds.
West, who owns the entire Yeezy brand and is worth $2.9 billion, is one of the wealthiest people in the United States.
The African-American billionaire and leading musician, has seen his net worth increase by $200 million since 2021 thanks to the robust valuation of his Yeezy brand, a fast-growing brand that is setting the pace in today’s world of fashion.
According to data retrieved from the U.S. business magazine Forbes, West’s net worth has increased by more than $200 million since 2021, from $1.8 billion to $2 billion, making him one of the world’s 2,668 billionaires, worth more than $12.7 trillion.
