- Jay-Z's entrepreneurial visionhasbroadened rapidlyover the course of his career.
- The rapper-mogulhas founded or owned, among other ventures, a clothing company, a restaurant chain, a sports management firm,two record labels, and the streaming service Tidal.
- He'sthe second richesthip-hop artist in the world, with an estimated net worth of $810 million.
Jay-Z's entrepreneurial visionand wealthhavegrown exponentiallysince the rapper's career took off in the early 1990s.
The rapper-mogul made his first major business move in 1995, when hefounded Roc-A-Fella Records.
As his rap career prospered over the ensuing decades, Jay-Z also beganan insatiable pursuit of new business opportunities, including the founding of severalcompanies and makinga number of other shrewd investments that extended beyond the rap world.
Fromstarting record labels and a clothing company, tomaking major moves into sports management with Roc Nation Sports, and into the competitive world of streaming with Tidal, Jay-Z's wide-reaching entrepreneurial efforts continue to embody one of his most famous lyrics: "I'm not a businessman / I'm a business, man."
The following is a brief history ofJay-Z'smost notable businesses and investments, the total of which have made him the second richesthip-hop artist in the world, with an estimated net worth of $810 million:
Roc-A-Fella Records
In 1995, Jay-Zusedthe money he received from signing a deal with Payday Records to start his own label,Roc-A-Fella Records,alongside his former associates, Damon "Dame" Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke.
Roc-A-Fellastarted out in a smalloffice space in a low-rent part of downtown New York City, operating as an imprint of the Island Def Jam Music Group.Its first release was Jay-Z'sdebut album, "Reasonable Doubt," which dropped in 1996 to critical acclaim and modest commercial success.
The labelwould go on to release some ofthe best and most commercially successful rap music of the late 1990s and 2000s, including Kanye West's first six albums, and every Jay-Z album through 2013's "Magna Carta Holy Grail."
Roc-A-Fellawent defunct in 2013, five years after Jay-Z had started his second successful label, Roc Nation.
Rocawear
In 1999, Jay-Z andDamonDash created Rocawear, an urban clothing line that would go on to have annual sales of around $700 millionduring its peak in the early 2000s, according to The New York Times.
After having a falling out with Dash in 2006, Jay-Z took the company over. He then sold the rights to Rocawear to the Iconix Brand Group in 2007 for $204 million.
Heno longer has a stake in the company.
The 40/40 Club
In 2003, Jay-Z opened The 40/40 Club, an upscale sports bar and restaurant in Manhattan's Flatiron District. He co-owns the club with his business partner Juan Perez, who would go on tobe the president of Jay-Z's sports management firm, Roc Nation Sports.
Jay-Zname-droppedthe club for the first time on his 2003 hit "Dirt off Your Shoulders," rapping, "Now you chillin' with a boss, b---- / Of course, S.C. on the sleeve / At the 40/40 Club, ESPN on the screen."
Therestaurant chain expanded to new five new locations over the next 11 years, including spots in Atlantic City, Las Vegas, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and theHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Roc Nation
After a productive stint as the CEO and President of Def Jam Recordings (between 2004and2008), Jay-Z left his longtime label and teamed up with entrepreneur Jay Brown to found the entertainment label Roc Nation in 2008.
Rihanna, Jay-Z's star signee from his Def Jam executive days,leftDef Jam in 2014tojoinRoc Nation, adding to a roster that now includesthelikes of J. Cole, Shakira, DJ Khaled, T.I., and Big Sean.
Roc Nation is owned by the entertainment company Live Nation, and ithas offices in New York City, Nashville, Los Angeles, and London.Itlaunched its ownsports management division, Roc Nation Sports, in 2013.
In April 2017, Roc Nationannounced the launch ofArrive, a venture capital firm that provides brand services and business development to early-stage startups.
Roc Nation Sports
In 2013, Jay-Z made a huge move into sports management when helaunchedRoc Nation Sports in a partnership with the Creative Artists Agency (CAA).
Jay-Z previously had a minority share in the BrooklynNets basketball team. In 2013, a year after he orchestrated the team's name change and move from New Jersey to the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn,Jay had to give up his stake in the team in order to legally manage players.
Roc Nation Sports currently representsstar athletes like Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant, Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley, andSeattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Canó.
Michael R. Yormark, Roc Nation's president and chief of branding and strategy, described Jay-Z as having an "entrepreneurial spirit that is absolutely contagious."
"When I joined Roc Nation, he immediately encouraged me and my team to take chances with Roc Nation Sports because you can’t have an ounce of fear when you’re building a business," Yormark told Business Insider. "Thanks to Jay’s leadership and strategic vision over the years, Roc Nation Sports has grown exponentially by signing world-class athletes across a vast array of sports. We believe there’s nothing we can’t accomplish and that is a testament to the attitudethat Jay and Roc Nation Sports President Juan Perez has instilled in us."
Tidal
After Jay-Z acquired theNorwegian tech company Aspiro in March 2015, he quickly relaunched the company's streaming service, Tidal, with a flashy press conference.
Sixteenmajor artists, including Jay-Z, Kanye West, Madonna, and J. Cole, stood on a stage in New York City on March 30, 2015, and were introduced as the co-owners and stakeholders of the first "artist-owned" streaming service.
The service's business model has centered around hosting exclusive releases from artists like Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and Kanye West.
In March 2016, the company claimed to have reached 3 million global subscribers, but an internal report from January 2017 showed that it only had 1.2 million subscribers. Since Jay-Z relaunched the service, Tidal has also seen a consistent exodus of top executives.
Though Tidal has certainly not been smooth sailing for Jay-Z, inJanuary 2017, he soldsold 33 percent of Tidalto the phone company Sprintfor $200 million. It was reportedly worth $56 million when he bought it in 2015.
