Jay Z has been royalty in hip-hop for three decades now. He’s put out 13 studio albums and in addition to a myriad of business moves, he’s earned hundreds of millions of dollars over the years. Now, he’s officially hip-hop’s first billionaire, according to Forbes.
The way Forbes calculated Hov’s path to $1 billion was his stakes in companies such as Armand de Brignac champagne and added up his income. Armand de, Brignac earnings totaled $310 million. Cash and investments went up to $220 million as he had a stake in Uber worth $70 million. He purchased his piece of it for $2 million.
Jay’s cognac, D’Ussé, has been another power move for him. The drink is a joint venture with Bacardi and has been a popular go-to choice at clubs and parties. $100 million has been generated from his streaming service, TIDAL, as well. It was launched in 2015 and while many doubted if it could keep up with the likes of Apple Music and Spotify, it’s done very well as artists sometimes release projects exclusively with TIDAL. Investors included Kanye West, his wife Beyonce’, and more.
Jay’s music catalogue alone is worth $75 million. He receives 1 billion streams every year as a major role in this was him earning his publishing rights in a separate deal with EMI. What many don’t know is that he’s generated a lot of revenue from his art collection as well. He purchased Basquiat’s “Mecca” for $4 million in 2013.
$50 million of Jay’s $1 billion also comes from real estate. He purchased a $26 million East Hampton mansion and a $88 million Bel Air estate in 2017 while also getting a Tribeca penthouse for $6.85 million back in 2014.
Jay Z is easily in the top five for one of the best rappers of all-time along with being one of the best businessmen in history. Salute to him for showing people the proper way to invest as well.
