Born on 4 December 1969, in Brooklyn, New York City USA, Shawn Corey Carter is widely known by his stage name Jay-Z, and is a rapper, record producer and entrepreneur, whose career began in the late 1980s.
So just how rich is Jay Z? Authoritative sources estimate that the amount of Jay-Z’s net worth as of mid-2019 is over $1 billion, accumulated from his multi-faceted career in the entertainment industry and business now spanning more than 30 years; he is believed to be the first rapper to reach the billion dollar mark.
Jay Z Net Worth $1 Billion
Jay Z was raised by his mother, Gloria Carter, and began creating lyrics, freestyling, following famous artists at an early young age, with his vocals earning him the nickname of ‘Jazzy’ in his neighbourhood, that developed into his stage name, ‘Jay-Z’. He attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn, then the nearby George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School with future rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes, followed by a period at Trenton Central High School in Trenton, New Jersey, though he did not matriculate.
Jay Z began his career by being featured on ‘Show and Prove’ in the Big Daddy Kane album ‘Daddy’s Home’ in 1994, followed by Jay-Z’s debut album ‘Reasonable Doubt’ in 1995, which was generally favored by critics and loved by audiences, reaching number 23 on the Billboard 200 and eventually platinum status. Jay-Z has continued a-pace ever since, and currently he is one of the wealthiest hip-hop artists and entrepreneurs in the US.
Jay Z is stated to be one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time, having sold more than 75 million albums worldwide. What is more, Jay-Z’s reputation increased consistently after each nomination and award, as for now he has received 17 Grammy Awards for his musical work and many other additional nominations. He is regularly rated as one of the greatest rappers of all time, in 2006 being chosen number one by MTV on the list of ‘The Greatest MCs of All-Time’.
Album releases have included ‘Reasonable Doubt’ in 1996, ‘The Blueprint’ in 2001 and ‘The Black Album’ released in 2003, considered to be the best albums throughout Jay-Z’s career. He has established the record for the most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200, as well as having four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist. In 2009, Jay-Z was rated in the most successful artists of the decade by Billboard, as well as number five in the top solo male artist and number four in the top rapper list, after Eminem, Nelly and 50 Cent. Jay-Z is also number 88 in the greatest artist list of all time as proclaimed by Rolling Stone magazine.
Furthermore, Jay-Z’s wealth has been increased by his business activities. He is one of the owners of the ‘40/40 Club’, and he created the clothing line ‘Rocawear’ together with Damon Dash. He is the former president of ‘Def Jam Recordings’, and with Damon Dash and Kareem Biggs Burke founded ‘Roc-A-Fella Records’. Additionally, entertainment company ‘Roc Nation’ was founded by Jay-Z, as was the sports agency ‘Roc Nation Sports’, and he is a certified ‘NBA’ and ‘MLB’ sports agent.
In his personal life, Jay-Z married the singer Beyoncé in 2008, and they have a daughter. As a couple, they were named in Time magazine’s list of most influential people in 2006, and were rated the highest earning Hollywood couple by Forbes magazine in 2009, at 162 million dollars. They divide their time between homes in New York and Los Angeles.
