JAY-Z: THE STORY OF JAY-Z BECOMING A BILLIONNAIRE
THE STORY OF JAY-Z BECOMING A BILLIONNAIRE
There are very few entertainers whose fortune reached up to $1 billion. Just recently, Jay-Z broke a record and became the first hip-hop artist to do so. Besides being a successful rapper and a beloved husband, it is clear that he is leaving permanent traces in business. So, how did Jay-Z transcend into the golden age of his life?
Perhaps, the biggest secret behind his success is that he always created his own brands and never promoted another brand. During the first half of the nineties, he was allegedly a drug dealer.
When he decided to become a musician, he founded his own label called Roc-A-Fella Records. This was completely his own work which ended up earning him over 20 Grammy Awards and 14 albums that had number 1 debuts in Billboard 200.
His self-reliant business persona expanded into other industries in the beginning of the millennium. Rocawear was a clothing line with clothes and accessories initiated by Jay-Z. The sales earned him a net income of 400 million USD in less than 3 years. In mid 2000s, he founded the sports club called 40/40 club.
It was more like a chain of clubs that had branches in Las Vegas. He also invested in beauty products of the cosmetic brand Carol’s Daughter.
In 2010s, he made investments that brought him the ultimate success. One of them was the Armand de Brignac champagne that he invested 200 million USD in 2014. The luxury-wine and spirits company had significant demand from celebrities. Its signature look was the gold bottles.
He had the biggest portion of his income from this brand with 310 million USD. It shouldn’t be surprising since he invested four times more money in the company than he did for his music. In addition to the champagne business, he also has a joint venture with Bacardi that gave rise to the cognac brand D’Usse.
There were 200000 annual sales that helped the company grow 80% every year. Jay-Z’s net income from D’Usse is 100 million USD. He is one of the few entertainers who make more money from an industry other than the entertainment sector.
Jay-Z invested substantially in entertainment and media. In 2008, he founded Roc Nation containing a record label, a talent agency, concert production and other media-related activities. Many artists including Jay-Z’s wife Beyoncé also made contributive investments. The company contributes an additional 75 million USD to Jay-Z’s fortune.
He purchased the Norwegian technology company Aspiro, launching the streaming service called Tidal in 2014. He successfully promoted Tidal with posters and announcements of his 13th studio album that would immediately be available on the platform. Tidal had a net income of 100 million USD.
His other sources of income were from music catalogues, art collection and real estate. He owns mansions in East Hampton, New York and Los Angeles. These mansions boast a real estate value worth 50 million USD. He purchased an Andy Warhol collection for 4.5 million USD after using some his work on the cover of his 2011 album Decoded. His overall art collection is estimated to be worth 70 million USD.
It seems that this is only the beginning for Jay-Z and that he won’t control the business, but he will become the business himself.
