What Is Jay-Z's Net Worth? A Look at the Rapper's Billion-Dollar Empire

Jay-Z is a self-made billionaire who has built his career as both a musician and an entrepreneur

In 2019, Jay-Z made history when he became hip-hop's first billionaire.

The rapper — whose legal name is Shawn Carter — has built his empire through his successful music career and his various businesses. Per Forbes, his net worth is estimated to be $2.5 billion as of December 2024, with half owing to his music career and the remainder coming from "self-made" ventures.

During the Forbes 400 Summit in 2010, Carter told investor Warren Buffett that the "greatest trick in music" was people convincing musicians that they "can't be an artist and make money."

"Hip-hop from the beginning has always been aspirational. It always broke that notion that an artist can't think about money as well," the Grammy winner said. "Just so long as you separate the two and you're not making music with business in mind."

Most recently, on Dec. 8, Carter was named in a lawsuit connected to Sean "Diddy" Combs, accusing both of them of child rape in 2000. In a response via his company Roc Nation on X, Carter accused the plaintiff's attorney of orchestrating a "blackmail attempt" to extort money from him. However, he wrote that he wasn't like other "celebrities" and that he was a "young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn."

Related: What Is Jay-Z Accused Of? Breaking Down the Lawsuit — and How It's Linked to Diddy

From the success of his music career to how he's become a business mogul, here's everything to know about how Jay-Z built his net worth.

What is Jay-Z's net worth?

As of December 2024, Forbes reports that Carter is worth $2.5 billion, an update from the $1.4 billion reported two years earlier, when he also took the no. 3 spot in the outlet's 2022 list of highest-paid entertainers.

In 2021, Forbes reported that Carter's wealth stemmed from multiple sources, including his music catalog, businesses, investments, partnerships, art collection and real estate holdings with his wife, singer Beyoncé. That year, two major business deals — involving his liquor company Armand de Brignac and music streaming company Tidal — significantly boosted his net worth from $1 billion to $1.4 billion, per the outlet.

Related: Beyoncé Is One of the Richest Women in the World. Here's How the Singer Built Her Empire

Though Carter is at billionaire status today, his younger self didn't see it coming. In a 2002 60 Minutes interview, the rapper was asked what he would have said 15 years earlier if someone told him he would be "rich" and "famous," to which Carter responded, "How?"

"I had no aspirations, no plans, no goals, no backup goals," he said. "How is that going to happen? Doing what?"

What are Jay-Z's album and tour sales?

Carter's music career spans over three decades, starting with the release of his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, through his entertainment company Roc-A-Fella Records in 1996.

Since then, the "Run This Town" singer has released 13 studio albums and earned 24 Grammy Awards as of 2024, according to GRAMMY. Per the outlet, he is tied with Kanye West for the most wins by a rap artist.

The rapper's 2017 album 4:44 debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, further cementing Carter's record as the solo artist with the most No. 1 albums on the chart, according to Billboard.

Carter then embarked on the 4:44 Tour, which according to Billboard, was his highest-grossing solo run. Despite tickets going for as low as $6, Carter grossed $48.7 million by the end of the tour, Forbes reported in 2018.

In 2021, Forbes reported that Carter's music catalog (which includes nearly 300 songs) was valued at $95 million, thanks to negotiations that gave him ownership of both the publishing rights and master recordings.

What are Jay-Z's businesses?

The start of Carter's music career also coincides with his business pursuits. At the 2010 Forbes 400 summit, he told the crowd that "every single label shut the door" on him and his partners at the beginning of his career, per CNBC. Thus, they "didn't give up" and instead launched their own label, Roc-A-Fella Records, in 1994 so that he could release his debut album.

Carter said that it "wasn't the same artist-label relationship" because he owned the company, which was the "best thing" for him and his team. However, according to MTV (per CNBC), record label Def Jam first purchased half of the company in 1997 for $1.5 million before buying the remaining half in 2004 for $10 million.

In 2008, Carter partnered with Live Nation and founded entertainment agency Roc Nation, per CNBC. According to Variety, Carter signed a $200 million deal with Live Nation in May 2017 that would extend the touring partnership another decade. Forbes reported in 2021 that Roc Nation was valued at $140 million.

In July 2023, ESPN reported that Roc Nation had entered a $25 million, five-year deal with the NFL to reshape the Super Bowl halftime show, produce music tied to the season and amplify the league's social justice agenda, among other goals.

Following the 2024 child rape allegations against Jay-Z, the NFL said "there's no change to the relationship with Roc Nation and that includes the Super Bowl," per NBC Sports.

According to Forbes, the business mogul has also built a portfolio of lucrative liquor ventures, including French champagne Armand de Brignac (Ace of Spades), in which he sold a 50% stake to LVMH in 2021. That year, Forbes reported that the deal brought the value of the luxury liquor company to about $640 million.

He also held a stake in the cognac brand D’Ussé, selling the majority to Bacardi in February 2023.

According to the 2021 Forbes report, he also has shares in companies such as Block and Uber and has a fine art collection valued at $70 million.

Although Carter has many profitable business ventures, he also launched the non-profit The Shawn Carter Foundation alongside his mother in the early 2000s. According to the foundation's website, they aim to bridge opportunity gaps across the education system by providing college scholarships.

What has Jay-Z said about his wealth?

In a November 2017 interview with The New York Times, Carter said that money isn't "the endgame."

"It's not about who got more money and who got more houses ... you've earned it, buy what you want," the music mogul said. "But don't forget what's important. Without people, being rich would be very boring.

The rapper added, "No one to share with, no one to have ... You know what I mean? You'd just be a rich person, one person on the planet — just, like, well then what do you do?"

Carter has also sung about wealth, as his song "Legacy" opens up with his daughter, Blue Ivy, asking, "Daddy, what's a will?"

Related: Beyoncé and JAY-Z's 3 Kids: All About Blue Ivy, Sir and Rumi

"Generational wealth, that's the key," Carter sings. "My parents ain't have s---, so that ship started with me."