Jay Z is the first hip hop artist to land billionaire status.
A combination of successful companies, a lucrative catalog of music, smart investments and real estate holdings all contribute to the mogul’s considerable wealth, according to a new Forbes story on Monday.
Jay, whose real name is Shawn Corey Carter, has amassed a fortune that ‘conservatively totals $1 billion.’
The financial outlet has been keeping an eye on the rapper’s wealth since it first featured him on the 2010 cover of the Forbes 400 – a ranking of the 400 richest Americans- alongside American business magnate Warren Buffet.
Since then, Jay Z has made serious smart business choices like stakes in swanky booze brands Armand de Brignac champagne and D’Ussé cognac which the outet claims are worth $310 million and $100 million respectively.
Jay-Z has accumulated a fortune that conservatively totals $1 billion, making him one of only a handful of entertainers to become a billionaire—and the first hip-hop artist to do so
Forbes writes.
The new profile does a deep dive into the 49-year-old’s finances and totaled up things like his $70 million dollar art collection, $50 million dollar real estate holdings, $220 million in cash and investments, a music catalog worth $75 million dollars and his companies like Tidal and Roc Nation – which total $175 million.
‘It’s bigger than hip-hop … it’s the blueprint for our culture,’ producer Swizz Beatz told Forbes. ‘A guy that looks like us, sounds like us, loves us, made it to something that we always felt that was above us.’
‘If he’s a billionaire now, imagine what he’s about to be. Because he’s only just starting.’
The Tidal founder’s rise to success is particularly notable considering his not only humble beginnings in the Brooklyn projects, but his transition from working street corners as a low level drug dealer to a Grammy winning megastar.
Forbes noted that early on in his career, Jay Z showed his business acumen by eschewing traditional endorsement deals that celebrities traditionally favor for riskier choices.
‘Crucially, he realized that he should build his own brands rather than promote someone else’s,’ they wrote.
In addition to the artist’s great individual wealth, there is of course, the addition of his wife Beyonce’s money.
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In 2018 the queen’s net worth was valued upwards of $350 million dollars.
Aside from being one of the most sought after performers of all time, Bey is rebranding her clothing company Ivy Park and taking on more acting roles.
The 37-year-old is starring as Nala in the upcoming live-action adaptation of Disney’s the Lion King.
