American rapper and music executive Sean Carter, popularly known as Jay-Z, has been named the world’s richest musician.
In 2023, Billboard and Vibe crowned him the greatest rapper of all time. Today, his net worth stands at $2.6 billion, according to Forbes, which credits his diverse investments and businesses.
Jay-Z owns Roc Nation, Armand de Brignac (Ace of Spades) champagne, and the D’Ussé cognac brand.
In Nigerian terms, his fortune now sits just behind Aliko Dangote ($24b), Abdul Samad Rabiu ($7.4b), and Mike Adenuga ($7b), making him officially wealthier than Femi Otedola ($1.2b), Nigeria’s fourth-richest man.
Career, Business, and Achievements
Jay-Z’s career began in the late 1980s. In 1994, he co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records to release his first two studio albums, Reasonable Doubt (1996) and In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997), which were both critically acclaimed.
He went on to release classics including The Blueprint (2001), The Black Album (2003), American Gangster (2007), and 4:44 (2017). He holds the joint record for the most number-one albums on Billboard’s Top 200 by a solo artist, tied with Drake and Taylor Swift.
In business, Jay-Z co-founded Rocawear (1999) and launched the 40/40 Club (2003). He later founded Roc Nation in 2008 and acquired Tidal in 2015, expanding it into a global streaming service.
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As one of the world’s best-selling music artists, he has sold over 140 million records. He has won 25 Grammy Awards (the most for a hip-hop artist), three Emmy Awards, and has been nominated for a Tony Award.
He was the first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the first solo living rapper in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Time Magazine also listed him among the 100 most influential people in the world (2013).
Other Musicians on the Billionaire List
Rihanna – $1.4 billion (music + Fenty beauty/fashion empire)
Paul McCartney – $1.2 billion (music catalogue + solo career)
Andrew Lloyd Webber – $1.25 billion (musicals)
Diddy – $1 billion (Bad Boy Records + ventures)
Madonna – $850 million (best-selling female artiste, Guinness World Record)