Watch to find out how Jay Z became a billionaire.
Video credit: Inside Edition
American rapper Jay-Z has become the first hip-hop star to achieve billionaire status.
According to a Forbes report, the rapper’s considerable wealth is credited to a combination of real estate holdings, smart investments, successful companies, and a lucrative music catalog.
Jay-Z has gathered a fortune that ‘conservatively totals $1 billion,’ the Forbes report noted.
The artist, whose real name is Shawn Corey Carter, owns a clothing line and record label and has made several wise investments in companies like Uber.
He has also diversified his assets with real estate and art collection.
According to the financial outlet, he had more than $500 million in pre-tax earnings and has scored 14 No. 1 albums and 22 Grammy awards.
Forbes has been keeping a track of the artist’s wealth ever since he was featured alongside Warren Buffet on the 2010 cover of the Forbes 400 – which ranked the 400 richest Americans.
The business tycoon said of the rapper: ‘Jay is teaching in a lot bigger classroom than I’ll ever teach in. For a young person growing up, he’s the guy to learn from.’
In 2018, Jay-Z was ranked fifth in a tie with Kylie Jenner on Forbes’ list of wealthiest stars.
The singer’s stakes in booze brands D’Ussé cognac and Armand de Brignac champagne stand at $100 million and $310 million respectively, according to Forbes.
He sold his clothing line Rocawear, which he started in 1999, to Iconix in 2007 for a whopping sum of $204 million.
The outlet writes: ‘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.’
Though Jay-Z possesses sharp business acumen, ‘hip-hop from the beginning has always been aspirational’ for him, he told the magazine.
According to recent figures, the 49-year-old has companies – including Roc Nation and Tidal – worth $175 million, a music catalog worth $75 million, cash and investments worth $220 million, real estate holdings worth $50 million, and an art collection worth $70 million.
Speaking of the rapper’s ascension to billionaire status, producer Swizz Beatz told Forbes: ‘It’s bigger than hip-hop… it’s the blueprint for our culture.
‘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.’
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