Shawn Corey Carter grew up in a drug-infested New York project building. Today, he is Jay-Z, one of the best-selling musicians of all time — and, of course, husband to fellow superstar Beyoncé.
The superstar duo exceeds the Obamas as America’s wealthiest Black couple, with Forbes reporting that the famed duo’s net worth has easily surpassed $1 billion — Jay-Z accounting for $900 million of it.
The two’s latest moneymaker, “On the Run II,” the sequel to their successful dual tour in 2014, kicks off June 6 in Cardiff, UK, and will span across the globe until Oct. 4. The first tour took place in 2014, but since then, a lot has gone down in the Carter-Knowles household, including the welcoming of twins Rumi and Sir in June.
Jay and Bey married in April 2008. There have ups and downs throughout their relationship, but the one constant has been the millions upon millions of dollars the two have generated.
Jay-Z famously rapped, “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man,” and he wasn’t blowing smoke. In addition to selling over 50 million albums globally, he is also a successful entrepreneur who owns a myriad of companies ranging from nightclubs to champagne brands.
Last year, the rapper’s entertainment firm Roc Nation launched Arrive, his new venture capital firm. The platform aims to work with early-stage startups and plans to offer investment of capital and assistance with business development, branding and more. The new business arm kicked off with some help from Sherpa Capital, created by some UBER investors.
Additionally, he and Beyoncé have a stake in the popular streaming service Tidal, the value of which spiked when Sprint came in for a third of the company.
Not to mention, Beyoncé’s “Formation” world tour in 2016 grossed more than a quarter-billion dollars.
The Carter couple is the epitome of “Wealth makes wealth.”
William Reed is publisher of “Who’s Who in Black Corporate America” and available for projects via Busxchng@his.com.