Shawn Carter, professionally known as Jay-Z, is one of the world’s most famous music icons. The estimated net worth of Jay-Z, as of April 2023, is USD 2.5 billion, according to Forbes. In fact, he is hip hop’s first billionaire — a status he acquired in 2019. Owing to this humongous wealth, Jay-Z has bought several expensive things such as multiple mansions and cars as well as set up profitable businesses.
Jay-Z has been active in music for over three decades and has won 24 Grammy Awards — the joint-highest for a rapper alongside Kanye West (officially Ye). He married music legend Beyoncé in 2008. The couple shares three children and is known for leading a lavish lifestyle.
Though highly successful in music, Jay-Z mints millions, thanks to his business acumen which led to a sprawling and diversified empire. His profile on Forbes notes that his numerous companies, primarily Roc Nation and his liquor businesses, have more than doubled his fortune since he became a billionaire.
His high net worth also means that Jay-Z has some of the coolest things money can buy. But it is difficult to determine which of the many cars and real estate the rapper enjoys are in his name and which of them are owned by Beyoncé. This is because of their collective rise in wealth and purchases reportedly done together over their 15 years of marriage.
Beyoncé is herself a multi-millionaire. According to her profile on Forbes, her net worth in 2022 was estimated at USD 450 million. Several reports have indicated that the couple bought many of their homes together. The same is true for their mean machines, some of which were gifts to each other.
Nevertheless, the billionaire rapper owns the companies and his massive art collection. He also created his own music label, Roc-A-Fella Records, to release his debut studio album, Reasonable Doubt, in 1996. He has not looked back ever since.
Expensive things Jay Z owns and the businesses behind his net worth
Automotives
Of the many cars Jay-Z has in his garage is a 2010 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport, which is a gift from Beyoncé. The rapper received the car on his 41st birthday. It cost Beyoncé around USD 2 million at the time.
He also has a 2005 Ferrari F430 Spider, which was seen in the 2006 video of his song “Show Me What You Got.”
Perhaps the finest four-wheels in his collection is a 2006 Pagani Zonda F. Only 25 of the type were ever made, making it one of the rarest vehicles in the world. The limited-edition car was named after legendary Argentine racing car driver Juan Manual Fangio.
The musician also has a 2004 Maybach Exelero — one of the most expensive cars in the world with a price tag of around USD 8 million. Stola and DaimlerChrysler collaborated to make the car. Jay-Z later showcased it in the music video of his song “Lost One.”
Among the other cars that Jay-Z owns with Beyoncé are a 1957 Corvette C1, a 1993 Lexus GS300, a 2006 Maybach 57S, a 2007 Maybach 62S, a 2012 Dartz Prombron, a 2017 Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII and a 2018 Bentley Continental GT.
Homes and other real estate
Jay-Z’s first real estate purchase was a seventh-floor penthouse in Tribeca, which he bought for USD 6.8 million many years before his marriage to Beyoncé. Measuring a total of 1,021 sq metres with outdoor terraces, the unit was later converted into a 1929 brick warehouse building. It is the same place where Jay-Z married Beyoncé in the presence of 40 guests. The unit is still reportedly in Jay-Z’s possession.
Together with Beyoncé, Jay-Z bought a Mediterranean-style villa on Indian Creek Island in Miami, Florida. The island has only 35 houses, some of which have famous American celebrities, such as Adrina Lima and Tom Brady, as their owners. The house that the couple bought for just over USD 9 million was constructed in 1991. It had a private dock, seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms. But they sold it in 2010 for USD 9.3 million to Geert-Jan Bakker, CEO and owner of Bakker Magnetics.
In 2015, the couple bought a home in the Garden District of New Orleans. The building was constructed in the Spanish Baroque style in the 1920s. Known as La Casa de Castille, it came with seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms across three distinct residences alongside the main residence. Although there is no clarity on how much the couple paid when they bought it, they put it up for sale after a fire in 2021 for a price that went up to USD 4.45 million upon revision. However, it was never sold.
They added two residences to their ever-growing real estate in 2017 with the purchases of a Bel Air mansion on the West Coast and another mansion in East Hampton. The Bel Air mansion cost a whopping USD 88 million and has eight bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. Its outdoor living space alone measures over 930 sq metres.
The fascinating fact about the building is that it has bulletproof windows and pocketing glass walls. There are six different structures on the property. It has its own media room, four outdoor swimming pools, a spa and wellness facilities. Above all, the mansion has a garage that can house 15 cars. No wonder then that the couple prefers staying on this property with their children.
The East Hampton mansion, on the other hand, comprises seven-bedroom and seven-and-a-half-bathrooms. The mansion was designed by architect Stanford White and is located off the Georgica Pond. It is spread over an area of 1,114 sq metres and its living room faces towards the pond after the owner who held it before the Carters rotated the building 90 degrees.
Expensive things for their children
Jay-Z reportedly started paying USD 1 million per year for a nursery he booked for his eldest child, Blue Ivy, at an age when she needed to be babysat. The nursery he booked was at Barclays Center, which the rapper often frequented to watch basketball with Beyoncé.
He also bought a rocking horse made of pure gold for Blue Ivy on one of her birthdays. The rocking horse was designed by Japanese jeweller Ginza Tanaka and cost Jay-Z USD 600,000. Then there was another USD 1.5 million investment in elevating the look of Blue Ivy’s nursery as well as other gifts for her.
Art collection
The Brooklyn-born rapper also has an impressive fine art collection. Forbes noted in 2019 that his collection is worth USD 70 million and includes the works of Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst and Shepard Fairey. It is also believed that he has a Pablo Picasso painting in the collection, especially since he has a song titled “Picasso Baby” in which he refers to his art collection.
The one artwork that is known to be in Jay-Z’s collection is Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Mecca, which he reportedly bought for USD 4.5 million in 2013. In fact, the rapper boasted about owning a Basquiat in the “Picasso Baby” song with the lyrics saying, “Basquiat in my kitchen corner.”
The fascination that Jay-Z, and perhaps even Beyoncé, has with Basquiat became all the more evident during the About Love campaign by in 2021. The couple posed before Basquiat’s Equals Pi painting from 1982, which, according to Tiffany, was part of a private collection from its creation until the time of the campaign.
Businesses
According to Forbes, Jay-Z had cash and other investments worth USD 220 million, including his USD 70-million stake in Uber, as of 2019.
Besides earnings from his music, the main source of Jay-Z’s billion-dollar fortune is his many businesses. Some of these are connected to general entertainment, but each is unique in its own way.
Tidal
It is a streaming service similar to Spotify or Apple Music. Jay-Z became its owner after buying the Swedish company, Aspiro, which originally owned the service for USD 56 million.
The service was launched in March 2015 with 16 artists, including Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Daft Punk and Madonna.
“People are not respecting the music, and devaluing what it really means,” Jay Z told Billboardabout the purchase of the service, adding, “People really feel like music is free, but will pay USD 6 for water. You can drink water free out of the tap and it’s good water. But they’re okay paying for it. It’s just the mindset right now.”
He sold 80 per cent of his stake in the company to Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s financial payments company Square for an estimated USD 302 million in 2021.
Roc Nation
Jay-Z’s best-known business is his Roc Nation entertainment company, which he started in 2008. Forbesestimated its net worth at around USD 75 million in 2019. It was launched as a joint venture with concert giant Live Nation.
Roc Nation has since been instrumental in the making of the careers of some of the greatest artists of all time, including Rihanna, Demi Lovato, Rita Ora and DJ Khaled. In fact, Jay-Z himself benefited as an artist with Live Nation. The two signed a decade-long touring partnership worth USD 200 million in 2017.
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Besides musicians, Roc Nation also represents sports icons from American football, baseball, basketball, association football and cricket.
D’USSÉ
He also launched the cognac brand, D’USSÉ, in partnership with Bacardi in 2012. Worth USD 100 million, Forbesreported in 2019 that the business grew 80 per cent annually. In February 2023, Jay-Z sold his majority stake in the brand for USD 750 million to Bacardi but held “a significant ownership stake” through his SCLiquor LLC company.
In a statement, he called the venture “a blessing” and said that he was “excited to renew this partnership with Bacardi.”
Armand de Brignac champagne
In 2006, he took a 50 per cent stake in the Armand de Brignac champagne brand. He debuted the brand in his “Show Me What You Got” music video before its launch later the same year. In 2014, he bought the remaining 50 per cent of the brand, which is known by its nickname “Ace of Spades.”
Six years later, in 2021, LVMH’s wine and spirits division, Moet Hennessy, acquired a 50 per cent stake in the brand, but the financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” programme, Jay-Z said that talks around the deal started in 2019 and “built from there pretty quickly.” Interestingly, the brand sold over 500,000 bottles in 2019.
(Main image: Beyoncé/@beyonce/Instagram; Featured image: JAY-Z/@jayzz_official/Instagram)
The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
