Rapper Jay-Z is the first hip-hop artist to become a billionaire, according to Forbes. The Forbes magazine in an article published opens by recalling a 2010 meeting between the rapper and billionaire Warren Buffet, from which the octogenarian came away impressed.
Less than 10 years later, the magazine has surveyed Jay-Z’s empire – which spans music, a streaming service, liquor, art real estate and stakes in other companies – and determines that it “conservatively totals $1 billion”.
It also notes that he built his own brands: the Rocawear clothing line, D’Usse, a cognac he co-owns with Bacardi; Tidal, the music-streaming service; and his multifaceted Roc Nation music and sports empire. The artist’s primary holdings follow, which Forbes calculated by “looking at the artist’s stakes in companies like Armand de Brignac champagne – applying our customary discount to private firms – then added up his income, subtracting a healthy amount to account for a superstar lifestyle”, which were then vetted by “a roster of outside experts”.
