KANYE West’s Wyoming ranches – worth $25 million – have failed to sell and been left to rot six years on – while racking up tens of thousands in unpaid property taxes.
Kanye, 47, would often spend time in the Cowboy State when he was married to his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, and ended up buying two huge ranches.
The pair, who share children; North, 11, Saint, 9, Chicago, 6, and Psalm 5, would often have family vacations in the town of Cody, where Kanye also briefly set up his Yeezy HQ.
At one point, Kanye wanted to move to Wyoming with his family, but Kim didn’t want to relocate from Los Angeles full-time.
This was a source of contention between the couple and led to issues in their seven-year marriage before she eventually filed for divorce in February 2021.
The U.S. Sun can reveal Google Map images, taken from this year, show Kanye’s two properties have remained desolate ever since he fled the town.
He purchased one plot in November 2019 and changed the name from Monster Lake Ranch to West Lake Ranch.
Kanye, now officially called Ye, put it on the market in October 2021 for $11 million – $3 million more than what he paid for it.
The wayward rapper tried for years to flog the vast estate without any success.
The 3,888-acre plot was put up for sale by realtor JW Robinson, of DBW Realty, who claimed that they’d been “showing the property three times a week, fielding around 50 or so calls or more a week… and these are for-real buyers.”
TAXES OWED
But despite this, there have still been no takers.
In June last year, it was reported that the property had been sold – but records obtained by The U.S. Sun show that Kanye’s firm Psalm Cody Ranch is still the current owner.
Moment Kim Kardashian and Kanye West reunite at North’s gig after co-parenting comments
It’s split into three parcels for tax purposes.
Altogether it owes $12,299 in property taxes from last year alone.
Just a few months after scooping up West Lake Ranch, Kanye bought an even bigger plot of land for $14.5 million called Bighorn Mountain Ranch, which was christened as his “therapy ranch” during his divorce from Kim.
It’s also where he created the album Donda which was released in August 2021.
They’re just 80 miles apart and Bighorn is a huge 6,713 acres in total.
The area attracts those with livestock with the previous owners grazing cattle on the estate, which is mostly rolling hillsides and encompasses over 20 square miles.
It’s split into 16 parcels for tax purposes and is owned by Psalm Bighorn Ranch LLC.
In total, it owes $78,548 from recent years.
West promised to bring dozens of jobs to Cody.”
Town mayor Matt Hall
Prominent locals have hit out at Kanye for deserting the town and running roughshod over planning laws.
The town’s mayor Matt Hall previously told the Casper Star-Tribune that, “West promised to bring dozens of jobs to Cody and to employ a local workforce, no more than a handful of residents fulfilled design jobs for him.”
Park County Commissioner Joe Tilden also told the outlet that they tried to fast-track his hastily put-together projects but “it kind of all fizzled out and caused us a lot of anxiety.”
It’s not the first time he’s bought an expensive property and abandoned it.
He famously bought a concrete fortress on Malibu beach, designed by legendary architect Tadao Ando, in 2021 for $57.25 million.
Kanye then proceeded to remove all of the windows, plumbing, and electrical — as part of his alleged plan to turn it into an open-air bomb shelter.
After gutting the home and dropping the project, he put it on the market for $53 million.
However, he ended up having to reduce the price to $39 million and lost millions on the final sale.
He also purchased a ranch in Calabasas for $2.2 million in 2018, which was once the base for his Sunday Service gatherings and HQ for his Yeezy business.
But he once again ended up vacating the property and it now lies in utter disrepair, with a huge hole at the front entrance, and debris scattered around the home.
MANSION MESS
Kanye bought yet another new home in Beverly Hills late last year for $35 million with his new wife, Bianca Censori, but he doesn’t seem to be calling it home.
Despite briefly moving in, insiders told The U.S. Sun this week that he and Bianca are still “hotel-hopping” and have been staying at the nearby Four Seasons.
The pair was rumored to be getting a divorce but have since been seen at two events for Bianca’s new art film.
Photographs show the Beverly Hills mansion littered with trash bags and debris on Valentine’s Day as it appeared to stand empty.
The couple previously spent months living in a $10k-a-month apartment in West Hollywood, but they vacated the property in November.
They then lived a nomadic life again in Tokyo, Japan, and didn’t return to Los Angeles until the New Year.
Since then Kanye has caused huge controversy.
First by showing up on the Grammys red carpet and showing off Bianca in an “almost naked” outfit.
He then went on several X rants in which he praised Hitler and declared that he is a “Nazi.”
Kanye has now briefly left the social media platform after complaining of being “shadow-banned” for his hateful remarks.
Shadow banning is when a platform limits the visibility of a user’s content without their knowledge.
