Kanye West said in February 2016 that he was $53 million in personal debt and appealed to technology billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Page to invest in his ideas. West asked Zuckerberg for $1 billion to help address his debt and develop Donda, his ambitious venture spanning fields from fashion and publishing to energy and transportation. The reports could not independently verify the state of West’s finances.

West’s appeals drew attention to his longstanding connections in Silicon Valley. He had pitched Donda to investors, maintained a friendship with venture capitalist Ben Horowitz, spent time at Apple’s Southern California offices and socialized with other technology figures. His outreach reflected a broader overlap between entertainment and technology, as artists seek business opportunities and technology leaders cultivate ties with celebrities.

West’s claim also inspired crowdfunding campaigns. Jeremy Piatt, a Minnesota graphic designer, created a GoFundMe page titled “Get Kanye Out of Debt,” calling on fans to support West’s work as the Medici family supported Renaissance artists. The appeal played on West’s own declarations of artistic greatness while acknowledging that he was personally wealthy. Piatt said the campaign was intended to raise awareness of support for the arts, and that only West or his team would be able to withdraw the money. Reports put the amount raised at $35 at one point and $50 by Tuesday afternoon. A separate campaign organized in Washington, D.C., reportedly raised nothing and appeared to have been canceled.

The fundraising efforts coincided with the release of West’s album *The Life of Pablo* on Tidal and the debut of his latest clothing collection at New York Fashion Week. The album reportedly faced distribution problems and widespread illegal downloading. One track also prompted attention for West’s claim that he was responsible for Taylor Swift’s fame; in a Grammy acceptance speech, Swift urged young women to stay focused when others try to take credit for their accomplishments.

A separate compilation of unusual crowdfunding campaigns highlighted requests ranging from a $10,000 round-the-world spiritual journey to tattoo removal. The tattoo campaign, intended to improve its creator’s job prospects, raised more than $1,000 against an $800 goal. The supplied material also notes that Alexa Internet has donated web-crawl data to the Internet Archive since 1996, with the data added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.