Jay-Z is according to the American business magazine Forbes currently the richest hip-hop artist. The 53-year-old rapper would have a capital of 2.5 billion dollars, which is more than 2.3 billion euros. But he doesn’t earn that much with his music: how does he make his fortune?
When Jay-Z raps in 2003, he does 99 problems but that a woman is not a problem, he probably does not foresee that twenty years later money is absolutely not something he should worry about. With a fortune of 2.3 billion euros, he is the richest hip-hop artist in the world, and according to the American business magazine, he is Forbes number 1208 on the list of richest people in the world.
In his youth, probably no one had bet a penny on that. Jay-Z was born Shawn Carter in 1969 in the Marcy Projects social housing complex in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in poverty, wore shoes with holes in them and was confronted with violence, theft and drugs at an early age. He dealt cocaine and at the age of 12 shot his brother in the shoulder after he tried to steal his ring. He later gave up drugs and successfully pursued a career in rap music. He has collaborated with Pharrell Williams, Eminem, Coldplay, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Linkin Park and Beyoncé. He would eventually marry the latter. ‘Bey’ and ‘Jay’ have three children together.
Not just music revenue
The musical success prompted the influential magazine Billboard last month to name Jay-Z the “greatest rapper of all time.” But although the rapper became famous for his music – he sold more than 40 million albums and has no fewer than 24 Grammy Awards on his mantelpiece – Jay-Z has long ceased to depend directly on his music income. The most recent financial stunner: the sale of a large part of his shares in the luxury cognac brand D’Ussé to the famous Barcardi, with which he raised almost 700 million euros. His assets thus passed the 2 billion euro mark.
He was crowned hip-hop’s first billionaire in 2019, thanks to a extensive business empire. Jay-Z’s assets range from the entertainment company Roc Nation to an art collection that includes works by Jean-Michel Basquiat. He invests in real estate with homes in Los Angeles, the Hamptons and Tribeca. He bought music service Tidal for about 50 million euros in 2015 and sold a large part of his shares two years ago for almost 300 million euros. He has shares in taxi company Uber and receives millions annually credited to his bank account through his share of Armand de Brignac champagne. Not to mention, he is also a co-owner of the Brooklyn Nets basketball club.
Source of inspiration
Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean, the super producer behind some of Jay-Z’s biggest hits (On to the next one in Upgrade U with Beyoncé), sees him as an inspiration for young African Americans. He’s bigger than hip-hop, he’s the blueprint for our culture. A man who looks like us, sounds like us, loves us and has made it something we always felt was above us,” he said in 2019 Forbes.
The number two on the list of richest artists in the hip-hop scene is Diddy. He would have built up a fortune of more than a billion dollars.
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