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Jay-Z is reported to have sold his majority stake in streaming company Tidal for $ 297 million.
Since he first hit the music scene, rapper Jay-Z has never been short of a jolt or two. And now the first billionaire hip-hop musician is even richer.
Last week, Jay-Z signed an agreement to sell his majority stake in music streaming company Tidal for $ 297 million (NZ $ 414 million). Forbes reports that it is selling to Square, Jack Dorsey’s mobile payments company.
Earlier in the week, the rapper bought back 33.3 percent of Tidal from T-Mobile, before selling those shares and the third he already owned to Square. He retains a small percentage of the company’s stock, as do Tidal’s “shareholder artists.”
Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images
Jay-Z and Beyonce own a house in Los Angeles that is estimated at $ 88 million and another large place in East Hampton, with a value of about $ 26 million.
But that’s not the only lucrative business the rapper has made in the last fortnight. Jay-Z has sold half of his Armand de Brignan brand of champagne to LVMH (Möet Hennessy Louis Vuitton); the brand is valued at about $ 640 million.
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What else does he own? Entertainment joint venture Roc Nation is valued at $ 140 million; their brand of D’Usse cognac is said to be worth $ 120 million; his music catalogs give him another $ 95 million; and Forbes estimates its art collection at $ 70 million, which includes works by Jean-Paul Basquiat and Damien Hirst.
Not to mention the two properties he owns with his wife Beyonce. The Los Angeles mansion is believed to be worth $ 88 million (but there is a mortgage on that), and the couple have a beautiful home in East Hampton worth $ 26 million.
Jay-Z also owns a penthouse in Tribeca, which he has owned since 2004.
A famous quote from the rapper 15 years ago resonates even louder today: “I’m not a businessman; I am a businessman.”
It’s a huge leap for the 51-year-old also known as Shawn Carter, who once sold CDs out of the trunk of his car. Jay-Z has sold more than 50 million albums and 75 million singles, and won 22 Grammy Awards.
