Parler Technologies, the parent company of social media platform Parler, said Monday that American rapper Kanye West, known as “Ye,” has agreed in principle to buy the platform.
The Nashville-based Parler Company, which has raised about $56 million so far, said it expects to close the deal in the fourth quarter of 2022. It did not say the value of the deal, and Forbes magazine says Yi has a fortune of $2 billion.
Parler is a popular social media platform among American conservatives, according to Reuters. It was launched in 2018, and has been returned to the Google and Apple app stores after being removed following the riots at the United States Capitol in January 2021.
Last month, Parler created a new “Ama” company, Parliament Technologies, as part of an overhaul.
Parliament Technologies CEO George Farmer said in an interview with Reuters on Monday that deal talks with Yi had just begun, after Paris Fashion Week.
Yi wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “White Lives Matter” at Paris Fashion Week on October 3.
Four days later, he posted posts on his Instagram account that Jewish groups described as anti-Semitic . META, the parent company that owns Instagram and Facebook, banned Yi’s account from Instagram over the posts.
Yi then moved to Twitter, where he posted on Oct. 8 for the first time in two years; Soon, Twitter closed his account.
CEO Farmer said the Parler deal came quickly, and Parlerment got a “chance” to close the deal.
Farmer declined to comment on the deal’s inclusion of a fine in the event that either party declines to complete it.
Yi in September ended his partnership with apparel retailer Gap, while German sporting goods maker Adidas said on October 6 that it was reviewing its business partnership with the rapper.
Yi appears to have joined Parler on Monday and had about 91 followers at the time of the announcement, and now has 3,900 followers.
“In a world where conservative views are controversial, we must make sure we have the right to express ourselves freely,” the rapper said in a statement.
Farmer says Parler has 16.5 million registered users. Research firm Apptopia estimates that the platform has been installed 11.7 million times since its launch, with an estimated 40,000 daily active users.
