Kanye who?
When Shawn Carter recited the lyrics, I’m a “business, man….” he wasn’t kidding. Jay-Z as a business is now worth $2.5 billion, according to Forbes.
Amazingly, with that amount, he comes in at number 1209 on the list of the world’s wealthiest people.
The magazine listed the 53-year-old as the third highest-paid entertainer of 2022. After years of other hip-hop players vying to become the first in the field to grab that title, Jay-Z took it in 2019. He has kept that solid grip even as Ye and most recently, Sean “Diddy” Combs, were breathing down his neck. Although a list hasn’t been produced for the previous year’s hip-hop list, we can assume that at $2.5 billion he can keep that top spot for another year.
Forbes listed Jay-Z as having a net worth of $1.4 billion in the past two years.
Zack O’Malley Greenburg, the former Forbes writer behind the previous year’s wealthiest hip-hop lists for the magazine, reported on his blog last year that Diddy had cracked the billionaire status as Ye fell off it. Previously, Ye and Jay were the only hip-hop artists to make the billionaires’ club. Then Diddy came crashing through at $1 billion last year after Ye started to crash and burn and started to lose endorsements based on his antics.
No telling how high Hov will continue to rise as he keeps making business deals that add to his portfolio.
Last month, it was reported that after having a disagreement with Bacardi, he emerged with a different arrangement to continue producing the popular cognac, D’Usse, with the company. The two parties announced they had reached a long-term agreement to continue. Instead of purchasing the 50% stake that Jay-Z owns, Bacardi has acquired a majority interest in D’Usse.
There are ways to make money. Some clips. Others work out deals for their cognac brand. Same difference.