According to Faktxeber, Kanye West pulled off a brilliant economic maneuver, tricked everyone, and walked away with more than $20 billion. On top of that, he regained nearly 30% of the shares of his own brands. Kanye fooled the labels and the corporations — and did it beautifully. Right in front of the whole world, he played them like a fiddle.

Previously, a big part of Kanye’s brands and rights to his tracks were owned by major investors, labels, and corporations. That meant almost half of the profits from his music empire didn’t go into his bank account, but straight into the pockets of Western “financial sharks.” Then came his tweets about Hitler, the masked appearances, the outbursts during interviews — his name became toxic. But Kanye did nothing to repair his image. Rumors even spread that he didn’t have the cash reserves to keep up his “good reputation.”

These rumors, along with Kanye’s statements that he was ready to fight back, triggered a massive drop in the value of his labels and music rights. The “financial sharks” rushed to put them up for sale before they lost all value. Kanye just waited, smiling at press conferences — and when the price finally dropped through the floor, he gave the order to scoop up shares from the entire industry all at once.

By the time those “financial sharks” realized they’d been played, it was too late: the shares were already in Kanye’s hands. Not only did he earn more than $20 billion in just a few days, but he also reclaimed ownership of his labels. Now, the revenue won’t flow out — it stays with Kanye. His ratings are climbing on their own, and he doesn’t need to spend a dime propping himself up. Meanwhile, the sharks were left holding nothing. Their billion-dollar assets were snatched up for pennies, and their income streams cut off.

Such a brilliant operation has never been seen before in the history of the music industry.