Kanye West, a literal billionaire, sought a government-backed loan to pay his employees during the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Small Business Administration (via The Daily Beast), the 2020 presidential candidate (?) has received between $2 and $5 million for his Yeezy fashion line company through the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program.
The Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program was created so that companies with 500 or fewer employees could apply for loans to cover the cost of eight weeks of payroll, up to two and a half times the company’s average monthly payroll costs, with a cap of $10 million total. It’s weird to think Kanye’s “small business” was allegedly in dire need of financial support despite its expensive shoes regularly selling out, its branch recently expanding via a Gap partnership, and the massive fortune of its owner. Nevertheless, Yeezy LLC said the loan saved 160 jobs that were in jeopardy under the COVID-19 economic collapse.
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While Kanye met the application deadline for his SBA loan, the same can’t be said regarding his 2020 presidential campaign. Despite his public proclamation this past weekend, Kanye has yet to file the necessary paperwork required to seek a run at the Oval office. What’s more, filing deadlines for several states have already passed. Perhaps he got caught up making new music, but you’d expect a president to be able to juggle two things at once.