Bringing home the bling indeed. Sean “P. Diddy” Combs has topped this year’s Forbes Five, its list of the wealthiest hip hop artists.
With an estimated net worth of US$580-M, the bulk of the 43-year-old rapper’s wealth comes from non-musical ventures like his deal with drinking company Diageo’s vodka brand Ciroc. The Bad Boy Records founder is entitled to 8-figure annual payouts at a time when Ciroc’s value has never been higher.
Second place goes to Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter with an estimated net worth of $475-M. It’s still raining money for the rapper because of his lucrative deals with the $204-M sale of his brand Rocawear in 2007 and his $150-M agreement with Live Nation in 2008. He also has stakes in Roc Nation, Carol’s Daughter, the Brooklyn Nets, Barclays, Duracell, Budweiser and Bacardi’s D’usse Cognac.
With an estimated net worth of $350-M, Andre “Dr Dre” Young cashes into 3rd place, thanks in large part to his wildly successful Beats by Dr Dre headphones. Beats’ headphones currently own 65% of the market share of the premium headphone market.
Bryan “Birdman” William’s fortune of $150 million has earned him the 4th spot on the list. His successful Cash Money/Young Money empire includes a heady roster of big names like Drake, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne. The 44-year-old rapper has also launched a clothing line called YMCMB and a spirit called GT Vodka.
Capping the list is Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson with $125-M mostly from sales of his music, video games, books and other merchandise and his sale of his stake in vitamin water brand Glaceau to Coca-Cola. Today the 37-year-old rapper is trying to replicate the success of Beats by Dr Dre headphones by collaborating with companies like SMS Audio.
When “50” was informed that his net worth had passed a little over $100-M this year, the rapper simply said, “That’s cool.”
When asked to explain his unexcited answer, he grinned and said, “Oh, you want me to tell you an exact number? I’ve got way more.”
