By Prince Hakeem
I’m not a businessman; I’m a business, man!
No one represents these words more so than Shawn’ Jay-Z’ Carter. I mean, he penned the phrase, of course, in “Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix).” So it would make sense that he’d be living this exact sentiment.
The Brooklyn rapper has been having a great couple of past weeks. Known for diversifying his business portfolio, Hov recently made significant moves, which grew his empire. For starters, he just sold a 50% stake in his champagne brand, Armand de Brignac, to LVMH. That deal values the luxury liquor company at about $640 million.
It also netted him $320 million in cash.
Next is his recent team-up with Twitter’s Jack Dorsey. Jay sold a majority stake in his artist-controlled music streaming company, Tidal, to Dorsey’s Square company for $297 million.
According to Forbes, these two recent deals hiked Jay-Z’s net worth up 40 percent. It increased from $1 billion to $1.4 billion in value. His growing still includes ownership of D’Usse cognac and a collection of less-sexy startups, including insurance startup Ethos and salad chain Sweetgreen. He still owns a significant part of his music catalog as well.
It’s great to see Mr. Carter become a prophet of his own words.
