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Jimmy Buffett joins the billionaire club. These 5 artists got rich outside of music.


Prolific musicians have been making a killing over the last few years selling the publishing rights to their music catalogs. But the wealthiest acts are making their riches outside of the recording studio. Here are the richest artists who cashed in on their business prowess to become billionaires in this week’s Five For Friday:

#5: Dr. Dre and Kanye West

Dr. Dre and Ye (formally Kanye West) are two rappers who had their billionaire club cards revoked. Ye was worth as much as $2 billion due to his massive deal with Adidas for his Yeezy-branded sneakers. A meltdown that included antisemitic posts on social media caused Adidas to pull the plug on the partnership. Now, Ye’s only worth $400 million, according to estimates.

Dr. Dre, on the other hand, was very close to being the first billionaire in rap. The story goes, as he and record executive Jimmy Iovine were finalizing their agreement to sell Beats by Dre to Apple, Dre got a little overzealous. In a video posted on Facebook with Tyrese Gibson, he boasted that Forbes needed to get ready to change the billionaires list because of the sale. But the deal wasn’t yet public and apparently Apple CEO Tim Cook took the opportunity to shave $200 million off the price, just enough to sink Dre below the billionaire mark. After a divorce, philanthropic spending and luxuries for himself, his net worth is now around $400 million as well.

#4: Diddy

Sean “Diddy” Combs entered the three commas club in late 2022, according to a former Forbes editor who tracks these types of things. Puff Daddy has as many business ventures as he has names. He tackled fashion with Sean John, media with hip-hop-centric Revolt TV and fine liquor with partnerships with Ciroc Vodka and DeLeón Tequila. He still owns the rights to the Bad Boy Records catalog and reports indicate he doesn’t currently have any plans to sell it off.

#3: Jimmy Buffett

Forbes just identified Jimmy Buffett as a billionaire, although the beach bum refuses to confirm or deny his riches. Buffett’s career first took off around five decades ago and has a rabid following for someone so chill. He’s slapped Margaritaville branding on hotels, restaurants and cruises. He even has Margaritaville-themed “55 and better” communities in South Carolina and Florida. Talk about an artist who knows his brand and how to capitalize.

#2: Rihanna

Rihanna was the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show and got paid essentially nothing for it. But she didn’t really need it with a net worth of $1.4 billion, according to Forbes. Rihanna made nearly $100 million per tour more than a decade ago. But it’s her business ventures that have padded her bank account. Her Fenty Beauty line and 30% stake in the Savage X Fenty lingerie line highlight her portfolio. When the latter was looking to possibly go public, it was seeking a $3 billion valuation.

#1: Jay-Z

Jay-Z is worth roughly $2.5 billion, according to Forbes, making him the wealthiest artist. He turned a $56 million investment in streaming service Tidal into $350 million in just 6 years. He also bought the Armand de Brignac champagne brand after he boycotted Cristal. He later sold half of his stake in the brand to LVMH for more than $300 million. Then in 2023 he closed a multi-billion dollar deal with Bacardi for part of his stake in D’usse Cognac. On a much smaller scale, his venture capital firm invested in Stellar Pizza, a Los Angeles-based startup developing pizza-making robot trucks. He’s got so much money, there was talk of him making an offer to buy the Washington Commanders with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. And he still has big-time music deals.

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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.