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How much is Jay-Z worth? Rapper adds luxury champagne brand Armand de Brignac to personal empire with purchase from Sovereign Brands
It's been six years since Jay Z very openly boycotted Cristal, pulling it from his chain of bars and even rapping about how the champagne brand was "rascist". In the same song, On To The Next One, he referenced his new favourite tipple – the gold bottle brand Ace of Spades.
He's just made that love a more formal affair, buying the business – real name Armand de Brignac – from its parent company Sovereign Brands.
“We are proud to announce that Sovereign Brands, a New York-based wine and spirits company owned by the Berish family, has sold its interest in the Armand de Brignac (‘Ace of Spades’) Champagne brand to a new company led by the globally renowned Shawn ‘Jay Z’ Carter,” the New York wine and spirits company said in a statement.
Named “Ace of Spades” because of its design, it is produced by eight people at the Cattier House, which was established in the French town Chigny-les-Roses in 1763. Bottles, which start at $300, appeared in the video of Jay Z's 2006 song Show Me What You Got, and was stocked at his 2012 fundraiser for President Barack Obama.
The champagne is named "Ace of Spades" because of its logo (Source: Getty)
A MONEY-SPINNER?
According to the New York Post, the brand is estimated to be worth between $25m and $30m in its entirety.
Zack O'Malley Greenberg, author of 2012 Jay-Z biography Empire State of Mind, suggests that the champagne generates revenue of £13.5m annually. He also estimates a 94 per cent profit margin on each bottle, which cost $13 to produce.
The author noted that even if there had been a three-way split at the time of the biography between Cattier and Sovereign as co-owners and Jay-Z as unofficial hawker, more than $4m would have gone to each participant annually.
The acquisition of the champagne brand is just the latest in a series of entrepreneurial ventures by the multimillionaire musician. In 1999 he co-founded Rocawear – a clothing line for women, men and children that makes annual sales of $700m. In March 2007 he sold the rights to the clothing brand to Iconix Brand Group for $204m, but he continues to own a stake in the company.
He also co-owns an upmarket bar chain called the 40/40 Club. It started in New York but has since spread to Atlantic City and Chicago.
Jay-Z was estimated to have a net worth of $520m earlier this year, and he stands as the third richest hip-hop artist in the world. Andre Romelle Young, also known as Dr Dre, comes in first place, followed by Sean John Combs, known variously as P Diddy, Puff Diddy, Puffy and – er – Diddy.