Billionaire rapper sips victory after Ace of Spades deal

Hip hop and business mogul Jay-Z this week sold a 50 per cent stake in his Armand de Brignac champagne brand to French multinational conglomerate LVMH.

Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, the legendary rap artiste who built his empire from nothing, is also the founder of entertainment company, Roc Nation.

Back in 1995, when he was selling CDs out of the back of his car, few could have imagined that the rapper would become a billionaire businessman with investment interests in Uber, real estate and a high-end, luxury champagne business, partnering with one of the most elite corporations.

HIP HOP’s MOST INFLUENTIAL

Speaking about Roc Nation, which in 2019 was worth an estimated $75 million, Jay Z recently told CNBC: “It wasn’t this plan to build this big media company.”

Jay Z is considered one of the most influential hip-hop artistes in history.

“I wanted a record deal and when we couldn’t get, we built our own,” Carter said in a statement.

His professional progress epitomises the universally-desired American dream.

Before launching his champagne brand, Jay Z got a taste of the industry as he helped popularise the French champagne brand, Cristal, from the late ’90s to 2000s.

He marketed the French brand, produced by winery Champagne Louise Roaderer, through his music videos by regularly talking about Cristal.

However, the business relationship between Jay Z and the now CEO of Champagne Louis Roederer, Frederic Rouzaud, abruptly came to an end after the latter supposedly directed racist comments at Jay Z.

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Jay Z said “those comments forced us to build our own thing”.

However, he didn’t immediately jump into the business.

He collected himself and partnered with Armand de Brignac champagne, commonly known as Ace of Spades.

He marketed the brand the same way he once did Cristal and featured the label in his music video for Show Me What You Got.

He later went on to increase his partnership with the label through a 50 per cent private investment.

Wanting more, he would in 2014 buy the remaining 50 per cent of Armand de Brignac, making him the first rapper to own a luxury champagne.

The CNBC report revealed how Jay Z’s influence as a rapper, businessman and tastemaker helped his brand sell more than 500,000 bottles in 2019.

Granted, Jay-Z’s accomplishments are impressive, but given how he started Roc Nation, this is just how he handles business.

 “Yes, today is a happy day and I feel very vindicated, but America still has a long way to go towards inclusivity,” Jay Za told Squawk Box about the LVMH deal, the value of which has yet to be revealed.

“I’m the highest ranking African American owner of a luxury goods product, so there’s plenty of room to go from here.”