Jay-Z now worth a staggering US$2,5bn

AMERICAn music mogul Jay-Z has reached yet another business milestone. According to a new report from

Forbes magazine, the music legend is now worth a jaw-dropping uS$2,5 billion following the sale of his D’ussé alcohol brand.

This makes him the 1 203rd richest person in the world and one of the 14 black billionaires.

As reported by TMZ, earlier this year he sold his 50% stake of his D’ussé cognac back to its parent company Bacardi for a reported uS$750 million. Even after the sale, he still owns a sizable portion of the company according to the outlet.

“Even in a year without a tour or album release, Jay-Z mints millions from his Armand de Brignac champagne and D’ussé cognac,” the outlet said.

“The Brooklyn-born rapper was crowned hip-hop’s first billionaire by

Forbes in 2019, thanks to a sprawling and diversified empire.”

As previously reported by Essence, he became hip-hop’s first billionaire a few years ago thanks to his dealings with D’ussé and Armand de Brignac; his streaming service, Tidal; art collections; real estate, record label, cash investments; and music catalog. not to mention his Marcy Venture Partners

— named after the housing project in which he grew up — raised an uS$85 million fund in 2019.

“It’s bigger than hip-hop,” producer Swizz Beatz told Forbes about his friend when Jay-Z was initially named as a billionaire.

“It’s the blueprint for our culture. A guy that looks like us, sounds like us, loves us, made it to something that we always felt that was above us.”

— Essence.