For years now, the question has been whether Sean “Diddy” Combs or Jay-Z would become the first ever rapper-turned-billionaire. Both have been on their way to that mark for years now, but it looks like Jay-Z has finally done it and officially become the first rapper with a fortune worth at least a billion dollars.
Jay-Z’s empire is the subject of a new Forbes profile, and the publication notes, “It’s clear that Jay-Z has accumulated a fortune that conservatively totals $1 billion, making him one of only a handful of entertainers to become a billionaire — and the first hip-hop artist to do so.” They explained how they came to this conclusion, writing, “To calculate his net worth, we looked 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. We checked our numbers with a roster of outside experts to ensure these estimates were fair and conservative.”
From there, they break down his major assets, which are as follows: Armand de Brignac champagne ($310 million), cash and investments including a stake in Uber worth an estimated $70 million ($220 million), D’Ussé cognac ($100 million), Tidal streaming service ($100 million), Roc Nation ($75 million), music catalog ($75 million), art collection ($70 million), and real estate ($50 million).
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