SIMONE DEL ROSARIO: LATELY MUSICIANS HAVE BEEN MAKING BANK SELLING THEIR MUSIC CATALOGS FOR HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS. HEY WE EVEN HAVE A FIVE FOR FRIDAY ON IT! BUT TO GET A “B” IN FRONT OF THAT NET WORTH – FOR MOST MUSICIANS – IT’S NOT ABOUT THE MUSIC. HERE ARE THE BUSINESS VENTURES MAKING THESE ARTISTS BILLIONAIRES IN THIS WEEK’S FIVE FOR FRIDAY.
LET’S START WITH DR. DRE AND YE, WHO BOTH GOT THEIR BILLIONAIRES CLUB CARD REVOKED. KANYE WEST WAS WORTH AROUND $2 BILL, MOSTLY BECAUSE OF HIS ADIDAS DEAL FOR YEEZY SNEAKERS. BUT YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT THE MELTDOWN AND NOW HE’S SITTING AROUND $400 MILL. DR. DRE, ON THE OTHER HAND, TANKED HIS THREE COMMA STATUS BEFORE HE GOT IT. IN 2014 HE DRUNKENLY BOASTED IN A VIDEO THAT FORBES NEEDED TO CHANGE ITS BILLIONAIRES LIST BECAUSE APPLE WAS BUYING HIS BEATS. BUT THE DEAL WASN’T YET PUBLIC, AND APPLE CEO TIM COOK USED THE SLIP TO SHAVE $200 MILLION OFF THE PRICE. JUST ENOUGH TO SINK DRE BELOW THE B MARK.
SEAN ‘DIDDY” COMBS CRACKED THE THREE COMMAS CLUB LATE LAST YEAR ACCORDING TO A FORMER FORBES EDITOR. DIDDY GOT THERE WITH AS MANY VENTURES AS HE HAS NAMES. FASHION – SEAN JOHN. MEDIA – REVOLT TV, AND LIQUOR – CIROC VODKA AND DELEON TEQUILA. PUFF DADDY ALSO HAS BAD BOY RECORDS BRINGING IN DOUGH. AND YOU KNOW, ALREADY BEING A BILLIONAIRE AND ALL, HE’S APPARENTLY IN NO RUSH TO SELL THE CATALOG.
FORBES JUST MINTED JIMMY BUFFETT A BILLIONAIRE, ALTHOUGH WITH HIS CAREFREE LIFESTYLE HE REFUSES TO CONFIRM THAT’S THE CASE. BEACH BUM BUFFETT HAS SLAPPED MARGARITAVILLE BRANDING ON HOTELS, RESTAURANTS AND CRUISES. AND THIS IS RICH, HE EVEN HAS “55 AND BETTER” COMMUNITIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND FLORIDA. TALK ABOUT WASTING AWAY IN MARGARITAVILLE, AM I RIGHT?
RIHANNA HEADLINED THE SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW THIS YEAR FOR FREE. BUT SHE DOESN’T NEED THE CASH WITH AN ESTIMATED $1.4 BILLION NET WORTH, ACCORDING TO FORBES. RI RI WAS MAKING NEARLY 100 MIL PER TOUR MORE THAN A DECADE AGO. BUT IT’S HER COSMETICS LINE FENTY BEAUTY THAT’S PADDED HER POCKETS. SHE ALSO HAS A 30% STAKE IN THE SAVAGE X FENTY LINGERIE LINE WHICH COULD BE VALUED AS HIGH AS $3 BILL.
THE CROWN GOES TO JAY-Z, WORTH AROUND 2 AND A HALF BILLION. HE TURNED HIS $56 MILLION INVESTMENT IN STREAMING SERVICE TIDAL INTO 350 IN JUST 6 YEARS. HE TACKED ON 300 MORE SELLING HALF HIS STAKE IN ACE OF SPADES CHAMPAGNE. AND THIS YEAR HE CLOSED A MULTI BILLION DOLLAR DEAL WITH BACARDI FOR SOME OF HIS STAKE IN A COGNAC BRAND. FOR A MINUTE THERE WAS TALK HE’D TRY TO BUY THE WASHINGTON COMMANDERS WITH JEFF BEZOS. OH, AND HE STILL HAS HUGE DEALS FOR HIS MUSIC.
SORRY, I DON’T HAVE BILLIONS, I’M JUST GONNA WASTE AWAY FOR THE WEEKEND. THAT’S FIVE FOR FRIDAY I’M SIMONE DEL ROSARIO AND IT’S JUST BUSINESS.