LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Rap icon, entrepreneur and music mogul Jay-Z has joined the billionaires club, according to Forbes Magazine.
Forbes reported that Jay-Z’s investments in companies like Armand de Brignac champagne, which he owns entirely, as well as in companies like Roc Nation, and TIDAL, account for much of Jay-Z’s wealth.
“We checked our numbers with a roster of outside experts to ensure these estimates were fair and conservative,” Forbes said.
Jay-Z’s ascent is all the more impressive in light of his modest beginnings in Brooklyn’s infamous Marcy housing projects, where he started his professional career as a drug dealer before finding his way to music.
Since then, Jay-Z has launched his own record label, Roc-A-Fella Records, and his own clothing line, Rocawear, which he launched in 1999 and sold in 2007 for a $204 million. His other investments include alcohol brands such as D’Ussé cognac, which he co-owns with Bacardi, real estate and an impressive art collection which Forbes valued at more than $70 million.
As well, he owns a stake in Roc Nation, a joint venture with Live Nation. The company includes a record label and talent management division and has recently expanded into sports management.
Jay-Z also owns the master rights to much of his music catalog which he negotiated with Def Jam and EMI and now the catalog sees more than a billion streams a year.
“If he’s a billionaire now, imagine what he’s about to be,” producer Swizz Beatz told Forbes. “Because he’s only just starting.”
