Mr. Carter is the first rapper to hit the billionaire mark.
Rapper and business mogul, Jay-Z is officially the first hip-hop artist to become a billionaire, according to the new cover story in Forbes.
JAY-Z is officially a billionaire https://t.co/ZT8QGqJvpO
— Pitchfork (@pitchfork) June 3, 2019
Last year, Jay-Z pulled within a hair of beating out Diddy as the wealthiest man in hip-hop. This year he has officially grinded his way to the top.
The article reflects on a 2010 meeting between the rapper and then 80-year-old billionaire, Warren Buffet, which left Buffet impressed stating that “Jay is teaching in a lot bigger classroom than I’ll ever teach in.”
“For a young person growing up, he’s the guy to learn from.”
The magazine follows with a breakdown of Jay’s empire—which consists of music, a streaming service, liquor, art real estate and stakes in other companies such as UBER—and determines that it “conservatively totals $1billion.”
The piece also mentions Jay’s journey of entrepreneurship with the birth of his own brand including the Rocawear clothing line that sold for $204 million in 2007. It also mentions D’Ussé, a cognac he co-owns with Bacardi, Tidal, the music-streaming service and his multilayered music and sports empire, Roc Nation.
The final estimate comes after “looking at the artist’s stakes in companies like Armand de Brignac champagne—applying our customary discount to private firms—then added up his income, subtracting a healthy amount to account for a superstar lifestyle,” says Forbes. The numbers were then vetted by “a roster of outside experts.”
Catch the breakdown below.
- Armand de Brignac champagne
$310 million - Cash & investments, including a stake in Uber worth an estimated $70 million
$220 million - D’Ussé cognac
$100 million - Tidal streaming service
$100 million - Roc Nation
$75 million - Music catalog
$75 million - Art collection
$70 million - Real Estate
$50 million
