Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris loses $110 million in single day as Adidas cuts ties with Ye

Within 24 hours of Adidas terminating its partnership with Kanye West, now officially known as “Ye,” shares of the leading German sportswear manufacturer plummeted, resulting in billions of dollars in losses for shareholders who have not yet sold their stakes in the company despite losing millions from their investments in the company this year.

Nassef Sawiris, a leading Egyptian billionaire businessman, is one of those shareholders who have maintained his stake in Adidas, despite the fact that doing so has cost him $110 million over the past 24 hours.

Sawiris, Egypt’s richest man and one of Africa’s wealthiest billionaires, sits on the boards of Adidas and OCI N.V., a global nitrogen product manufacturer and distributor.

The majority of his fortune stems from his 38.8-percent stake in the Netherlands-based OCI N.V. and his six-percent stake in Adidas. Since the start of the year, the market value of his Adidas stake has dropped from $3.2 billion to $1.23 billion at the time of writing.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which tracks the fortunes of the world’s 500 wealthiest people, Sawiris’ net worth has dropped by $110 million in the past 24 hours, from $6.41 billion to $6.3 billion.

The drop in his net worth can be attributed to a decline in the market value of his stake in Adidas, as investors sold off stakes in the company in response to its decision to cut ties with Ye and his brand, Yeezy, due to anti-Semitic remarks he made two weeks ago.

Adidas announced on Tuesday from its headquarters in Germany that it has ceased production of Yeezy-branded products and will no longer make payments to Ye’s businesses.

The decision to cancel the deal that grew Yeezy into a brand that accounted for up to €1.5 billion ($1.47 billion) of Adidas’ total sales over the last decade will cost the sportswear behemoth up to €250 million ($247 million) in earnings this year.