If you’re not familiar with Jay-Z, this is what you need to know: at 51 years-old, he has 22 Grammy awards, is one of raps only billionaire businessmen and is seen as a mentor and supporter of new musical talent, including the late Nipsey Hussle.

And he just happens to be married to one of the most influential musicians of all time, Beyoncé.

All of which is impressive. But, the New-York native has made headlines recently not for his musical talent, or his personal life, but for his skill in business; Jay-Z has just sold 50% of his shares in champagne brand Armand de Brignac – known colloquially as ‘Ace of Spades’ – for a rumoured $300 million.

The champagne brand, which Jay-Z bought 100% shares in in 2014 and retails for $300 a bottle, was bought by LVMH’s Moët Hennessy in February.

The deal was designed to take “the business to new heights across the world,” according to Moet’s CEO Philippe Schaus. “In your understanding of the world of tomorrow,” Schaus said, addressing Jay-Z, “we believe you created a new consumer for Champagne.”

Jay-Z had previously rapped on Meek Mill’s 2018 song 

that the company was worth half a billion dollars – making it the rapper’s most significant asset.

“I’m 50% of D’usse and it’s debt free / 100% of Ace of Spades, worth half a B /Roc Nation, half of that, that’s my piece / Hunnid percent of Tidal to bust it up with my G’s”

Jay-Z&#8217;s investment nous has put him in good company 


It seems that estimate was a wild undervaluing, with LVMH having valued the brand at $600 million – of which Jay-Z will pocket $300 million.

Forbes had valued the brand at $630 million, but with the exact details of the sale under wraps, what is clear that Jay-Z has just added a sizeable amount to his already seismic $1 billion personal fortune (combined with the wealth of his wife, Beyoncé, the fortune stands at an estimated $1.35 billion).

How, then, did he get here? And who else has come close?

“If you can’t buy the building at least stock the shelf / Then keep on stackin’ ’til you stockin’ for yourself” Jay-Z rapped on Pharrell’s 2020 song about Black excellence and business savvy, 

The lyrics are testament to the work ethic that saw Jay-Z escape a life of drug dealing in Brooklyn’s tough Marcy projects to go on to headline Manhattan’s Madison Square.

Born Shawn Corey Carter on December 1969 (the day, incidentally, that Black Panther’s Chicago chairman Fred Hampton was assassinated), Jay-Z’s well-documented early years involved selling crack cocaine, shooting his cousin in the shoulder for stealing his jewellery, and being shot three times himself.

The distinctive gold bottles of the Armand de Brignac marque  — a key, no doubt, to the champagne&#8217;s stratospheric success


Attending school with the likes of Notorious B.I.G and Busta Rhymes, music was a constant force in Jay’s life, and he founded Roc-A-Fella Records, a subdivision of Def Jam Recordings in 1995. Jay’s first album, 

Twenty five years and twelve studio albums later, Jay-Z has become a

. He has long-since sold Roc-A-Fella Records to Def Jam in two separate deals for a total $11.5 million. Meanwhile he sold 33% of his streaming service Tidal for $200 million in 2017 (he bought the company for $56 million in 2015).

Also in 2017 he signed a 10-year, $200 million deal with Live Nation Entertainment. The following year, his co-headlining tour with Beyoncé, On The Run II earned them a reported $5 million per show. Then, in 2020 he started the entertainment management group Roc Nation, which is now valued at $75 million.

As well as a stake in Uber worth and estimated $70 million from a $2 million investment, Jay has also invested in tech start-ups like JetSmarter, Julep, and Away.

Twenty five years and twelve studio albums later, Jay-Z has become a true business mogul...

But his most notable investment is in property and artwork. As well as New York’s 40/40 Club, Jay-Z owns a $50 million real estate empire, and an art collection worth over $70, with a penchant for the works of late New York native Jean-Michel Basquiat. (“Yellow Basquiat in my kitchen corner” he raps on 

The Armand de Brignac sale, however, is by far Jay’s biggest single payday. He was first seen brandishing a bottle in the 2006 video for S

. Produced by French company Champagne Cattier, Jay bought out the importer’s interest in Armand de Brignac in 2014.

Headlines immediately announced that the rapper was so wealthy that had bought his favourite champagne. It was the ultimate endorsement and led to a boom of free publicity worldwide.

The brand soon became popular with critics; in 2010, Armand de Brignanc beat Cristal and Dom Pérignon in a blind tasting by 

“The excitement in consuming these beverages is that for the consumer, one is not simply buying or drinking some alcohol, they are borrowing a bit of the rappers’ world,” Stephanie Melodia, marketing guru and director of London-based Bloom told 

. “Jay-Z… [and other billionaire rappers like P. Diddy] are at the top of their game, seemingly successful in every aspect of their lives — financially, romantically, culturally — and not afraid to show it. We can’t all party on a yacht off the south of France surrounded by glamorous people and dripping in diamonds, but we can buy into a bit of that life.”

Jay-Z’s success in the champagne business cannot be under-appreciated. But, held up against some of his contemporaries, Hov’s $300 million buyout can be seen as – in his own parlance – “baby money”.

While Dwayne Johnson’s Tequila brand, Tremana may have become the fastest selling spirits brand in history, the king of the sellout remains George Clooney who sold his tequila company Casamigos in 2017 for $1 billion netting over $200 million from a $600,000 investment just four years earlier.

Another billionaire rapper has the potential to dethrone both Jay and Clooney. In 2007, Sean Combs (P Diddy) came onboard with British brand Diageo, penning a deal to help promote its Cîroc on a 50/50 profit split agreement.

“The excitement in consuming these beverages is that you are borrowing a bit of the rappers’ world..."

At that point a struggling brand with few big-name ambassadors, neither Cîroc nor Diddy had anything to lose in the partnership. To ensure his dividends were worth bragging about, Diddy included bottles of Cîroc on his Instagram feed which regularly showed him travelling by private jet, hanging out with models, and driving sports cars. In short, he sold Cîroc as part of — and perhaps even the secret to — this next level lifestyle.

The strategy paid off. In its first year with Diddy on board, Cîroc moved 250,000 cases, a 150% increase over the previous year. Diddy took an active drive in the brand too, pushing for more flavoured varieties — a decision that saw the brand’s sales double to 800,000 cases in 2010. Diddy’s deal with the brand is currently worth around $700 million, with a nine-figure payday coming his way if the company is ever sold.

Other rappers have tried to get in on the spirit hustle, to mixed results. Ludacris’s Conjure cognac, Pharrell’s Qream and Timbaland’s sparkling spirit LeSUTRA have all long since lost their association with rap music, or ceased to exist altogether.

P Diddy&#8217;s Ciroc laid the blueprint, in many ways, for Jay-Z&#8217;s later successe


When it comes to building fortunes, however, it isn’t the men involved in the music business that are leading the pack, but the women. And it isn’t alcohol, but make-up that is making the real money around here.

Kanye West’s soon to be ex-wife Kim Kardashian sold 20% of her company KKW Beauty in January for $180 million and retains a 72% stake – worth an estimated half a billion dollars.

Her sister, Kylie Jenner, led the way, investing $250,000 to found Kylie Cosmetics in 2015. Back in January 2020, Cosmetics company Coty Inc bought a 51% stake for $600 million, with $540 million of that going into Jenner’s pocket. She also still owns 44.1% of the company and has creative control.

The story comes full-circle with Jay-Z’s one-time protege Rihanna. The singer started Fenty Beauty (co-incidentally, with LVMH) in 2017. With a 15% share of the $3 billion brand, Rhianna is currently sitting on $450 million. She also owns an $80 million stake in a lingerie line, backed, among others, by Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners.

All of which, we’re sure you’ll agree, are success stories well worth popping a bottle of Armand for.

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