Jay-Z is officially hip-hop’s first billionaire, says Forbes
Jay-Z once rapped “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.” Turns out he was right.
The superstar rapper is a streaming music mogul, a sports management company owner and Beyonce Knowles’ husband.
All of those things have helped him become hip-hop’s first billionaire, according to Forbes.
According to Forbes, Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, either owns or has a stake in the following:
- a $70 million stake in Uber
- his ownership of the streaming service Tidal
- his $70 million art collection
- his ownership of the Roc Nation sports management company
- $50 million in assorted real estate holdings and his music catalog.
He’s also married to superstar Beyonce, who is worth an estimated $355 million, according to Forbes.
Jay-Z grew up in a Brooklyn housing project, rose to fame in 1996 with his debut album “Reasonable Doubt,” according to Forbes.
His sixth album, 2001’s “The Blueprint,” was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry — reserved for albums that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” — earlier this year, according to Forbes.
Music mogul Dr. Dre claimed in 2014 that he was hip-hop’s first billionaire after he sold Beats Music, the high-end headphones and streaming music service, to Apple.
But it’s estimated that while the deal pushed Dre’s net worth to about $1.1 billion, state and local taxes ultimately nudged it just below the $1 billion-dollar mark.