A musician, a manager, an entrepreneur and a family man Jay-Z has been named the world’s first billionaire rapper. Forbes, the financial magazine known for its annual wealth rankings has claimed the 49-year-old’s empire “conservatively” totals $1bn. They have valued his various ventures as well as any real estate and his art collection.
Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, has been crowned the first Billionaire rapper. The superstar rapper is also a fashion trendsetter, a streaming music mogul, a sports management company owner.
Per Forbes’s estimates, Jay-Z’s wealth is bolstered by ventures such as his champagne brand Armand de Brignac(worth an estimated $310m/£245m)as well as another $100 million in his cognac label D’Ussé that reportedly continues to grow 80% each year. He has a $70 million stake in Uber, has ownership of the streaming service Tidal(with an estimated worth of $100m/£79m), his $70 million art collection, his ownership of the Roc Nation sports management company and $50 million in assorted real estate holdings and his music catalog(adds an estimated $75m (£59m). And being married to uber-superstar Beyonce, worth an estimated $355 million herself.
All that has helped him to become the first billionaire rapper, according to Forbes.
Jay-Z’s is a rag to riches story as he grew up in a housing project in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. He was selling drugs as a teen before he started rapping. Without a label, he started selling CDs out of his car before releasing his first album, 1996’s Reasonable Doubt which has sold more than 1.5m copies since. His sixth album, 2001’s “The Blueprint,” was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. He is also the winner of 22 Grammy Awards.
Jay-Z had also campaigned for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and launched a prison reform organization with fellow rapper Meek Mill this year. The rapper has been, offering legal assistance to cases involving black men mistreated by the criminal justice system.
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