Guest
Jay-Z, the world’s first billionaire rapper and one of the most influential hip hop artists of all time, has a net worth of $2.5 billion, according to the latest estimate from Forbes. The Brooklyn-born rapper, né Shawn Carter, has accumulated his fortune from his stellar music career and his vast business empire, which Forbes describes as “a sprawling and diversified empire.” Jay-Z grew up in a housing project in Brooklyn, and sold drugs as a teen before he started selling CDs of his own music out of his car. He went on to launch Roc-A-Fella Records in 1,995, and released his debut album Reasonable Doubt in 1,996. Since then, he has sold tens of millions of albums, won 24 Grammy awards, and raked in more than $250 million from his joint world tour with wife Beyoncé in 2,018. However, much of the hip-hop star’s wealth has been generated from endeavors outside of his rap career. In 2,021, Jay-Z’s streaming service Tidal was sold to Jack Dorsey’s Square for a reported $297
