We all know and love his music, but his investments are out of this world! He really is “a business, man.”
I was really taken aback the other day when I saw an old picture of Jay-Z. Not that he really looked that different, but it reminded me that Jay-Z, one of the G.O.A.T. rappers and billionaire, used to be an owner of the Nets (and I had forgot). There was a time (late 90’s) that Roc-A-Wear was a respectable brand of clothing for the street conscious. Back when Jay (and Dame Dash) were ahead of their time with 1998’s “Street’s Is Watching” movie that, to me, was about creating and controlling your own content and money flows. They paid cash to produce a compilation of videos that the label didn’t want. I really don’t know how much money they made, but it was evolutionary. It was that “one step ahead” mentality that has allowed Shawn Carter to invest “one step ahead” of a lot of us. But he provides a model of sorts. A model of overcoming the odds to persevere.
Chronology of some Jay-Z ventures
1996 – releases “Reasonable Doubt”, his first studio album
1998 – releases “The Streets Is Watching”
1999 – Jay-Z launches Rocawear and sales in 2007 for a net gain of $204,000,000
2003 – opens first 40/40 Club in NYC. Locations are still open in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Atlanta Hartsfield Airport
2004 – reportedly invests $1,000,000 for a 1/15 of 1% ownership stake in the Brooklyn Nets. But that also gave him 1/5 of 1% stake in the Barclay’s Arena valued at $1,000,000,000. So that investment was valued $2,350,000, which is a 135% return. Jay-Z sold his stake to Jason Kidd in 2013, but retains his Barclay’s ownership stake. So in the end, Jay-Z has represented several Nets players over the years, makes money off Barclay’s events (including Nets games), and makes money from the 40/40 club located in…Barclay’s Center.
2008 – Jay inks Live Nation deal for $150 million
2009 – buys his his Def Jam contract for $5 million
2013 – RocNation Sports signs its first professional athlete, Robinson Cano. Later signs Victor Cruz, Kevin Durant, Skylar Diggins.
2013 – invested $2,000,000 in Uber. In 2020, his stake was valued at $70,000,000
2017 – Signs LiveNation touring deal estimated at 10 years, $200,000,000
2021 – Surpassing the $1,000,000,000 Mark
Forbes magazine recently valued him at $1,400,000,000. Up from $1,000,000,000. Just look at those zeroes. So literally, so far this year Jay- Z has made about $400 million. This of course has come from the proceeds of the sale of Tidal to Jack Dorsey’s Square for about $297,000,000 and netting Jay about $150,000,000 while maintaining a stake in the company that he bought in 2015 for $56,000,000. Earlier in 2021, he had sold his share of Armand de Brignac for about $320,000,000 to Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) while still maintaining a 50% stake in the champagne producer. In 2019, the brand was valued at $310,000,000 TOTAL. Let’s not forget the “yak.” Jay still maintains an ownership in D’Usse valued at $120,000,000.
Other Current Holdings
Some say “the sky is the limit” but in Jay-Z’s case, this may not be true. His current holdings put his limits out of site. He has holdings in Uber, SpaceX, Tidal (because of the latest deal, he also has a seat on the board), new insurer Ethos, and Oatly (which I sorta like). Let’s look at what the Oatly deal may look like. The Swedish company sold a 10% share for $200 million about 10 months ago. That gives the company a $2,000,000,000 valuation. Early investors included Blackstone Group, Inc. which led investors including Oprah Winfrey, Howard Schultz, Natalie Portman, and RocNation. As of June 20, Nielsen reported a 300% year-over-year growth rate for Oatly. Oatly is set to debut on the market this Thursday with a targeted valuation of $10,000,000,000. You do the math…. Additionally, he has a stake in Sweetgreens. The Nation. wrote an interesting article about Sweetgreens and their appropriation of hip-hop. They use hip-hop phrases and verses (and some Jay-Z cash) to sell more salads in white neighborhoods. As a Chicagoan, I can say that the only Sweetgreens I know of are downtown and northside.
So, there you have a snapshot of what this guy has done. I remember this guy hanging out at Norfolk State’s homecoming in ’97 and look at him now. A billionaire who came from selling crack to doing everything he rapped about in his songs. I don’t believe he’s done. There’s surely more to come.
