Puff Daddy does one thing better than almost any other human being on Earth: He lives life to its most extravagant extremes. Beyond shutting down the Met Gala with poses or amazing Kamaiyah with his party antics, the Bad Boy mogul has spent the better part of a decade as one of hip-hop’s wealthiest figures and he’s got the new Forbes rankings to prove it.
In the latest charting of hip-hop’s wealthiest artists, Janice Combs’ baby boy once more stands at the top. Combined with all his numerous ventures from Ciroc to Deleon tequila, Aquahydrate, REVOLT TV, Sean John, last year’s Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour and more, Puff’s wealth currently stands at $820 million. For the first time in a while however, his position at the top is being legitimately threatened.
Thanks to a 30% increase in wealth , Jay Z has leaped over Dr. Dre to claim the No. 2 spot on the Forbes list with $810 million. Between Roc Nation and Sprint reportedly investing $200 million into his music-streaming service TIDAL, Hov’s sitting pretty. TIDAL has an estimated value of about $600 million alone.
Below Hov and Puff comes Dr. Dre, who shocked the hip-hop and business worlds three years ago when he and Jimmy Iovine sold their Beats brand to Apple for a $3 billion check. It netted him the single largest payday for a musician ever, prompting Tyrese to falsely proclaim that Dre had achieved billionaire status in hip-hop. Not quite, although being worth nearly three-quarters of a billion ($740 million, up $30 million from 2016) is nothing to scoff at.
Coming in at fourth and fifth are Birdman and Drake respectively. Thanks mostly to operating Cash Money Records, the Number 1 Stunna broke even in 2016, maintaining his $110 million net worth. Drake on the other hand has continued expanding his pocket book with savvy investments and deals with Apple, Sprint, Jordan Brand and more. He currently sits at $90 million, easily rebuking that “25 sitting on $25 mil” line from 2011’s “The Motto”.
Who does Forbes predict will be the first to achieve billionaire status? S. Carter, apparently.
