Music Moguls of the Year: Beyoncé and Jay-Z Make Records and Break Them
By James Patrick Herman
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “Damn, look at us now … we came, and we saw, and we conquered it all,” the music industry’s ultimate power couple proselytize on “LoveHappy,” the song that caps their 2018 Grammy-winning album, “Everything Is Love.” A more fitting title might have been “Everything Is Money,” because the collection was also an ode to the Carters’ combined wealth.
While Beyoncé and Jay-Z have problems just like every married couple, no other husband-and-wife team has mined its relationship woes for a musical trilogy (including separate solo albums “Lemonade” and “4:44,” respectively), adding to an already formidable nest egg in the process. Clearly, things have changed since 2003’s “Crazy in Love,” the pair’s first collaboration, which features a video shot on the grimy streets of downtown L.A. Last year, they shut down the Louvre to film the clip for “Apeshit,” an apt symbol for just how far the Carters have come. Beyoncé may rap, “My success can’t be quantified,” on the song “Nice,” but Forbes says she has a net worth of $400 million. Along with Jay-Z, a newly minted billionaire, they are among the richest couples in the nation. Queen Bey and Hov — along with daughter Blue Ivy and twins Rumi and Sir — are arguably the equivalent of America’s royal family.
Among the innumerable things that extreme wealth affords is the freedom for Jay-Z to throw shade at the likes of the commander in chief (“Your president tweeting about Hov like he knows us,” he spits on “Salud!”) and the Recording Academy (“Tell the Grammys fuck that zero-for-eight shit,” he declares on “Apeshit”). Beyoncé, too, has been inspired to dis, taking a swipe at Spotify (“If I gave two fucks about streaming numbers / Would have put ‘Lemonade’ up on Spotify,” she sings on “Nice” — although three years after its release, she did.) The Carters even have their own streaming service, Tidal, of which Jay is the primary owner, but both have stakes. They also share a passion for giving back with individual charities — BeyGood and the Shawn Carter Foundation — and joint donation of scholarships for 11 high school students to attend college in the fall.
Beyoncé has nothing bad to say about Netflix, however, having earned $60 million for a three-project deal that kicked of with the Emmy-nominated “Homecoming” documentary of her 2018 Coachella performance. Or Disney, for that matter: The performer was reportedly paid $25 million for her multifaceted role in the live-action remake of “The Lion King,” which included recording and curating the movie’s sort-of soundtrack album, “The Gif.” It may prove to be the gif that keeps on giving this awards season: An Oscar nom for her original song “Spirit” could put her one step closer to membership in the exclusive EGOT club.
Jay-Z, meanwhile, has bolstered his fortune through liquor (he owns Armand de Brignac Champagne and partners with Bacardi for D’Ussé Cognac); real estate (New York City penthouse? Check. East Hampton mansion? Check. Bel Air palace? Check); an art collection valued at d $70 million (including pieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Damien Hirst); the sports and entertainment management frm Roc Nation (its client roster features Rihanna and Shakira as well as superstar athletes); and stakes in companies such as Uber. And while he has taken shots for his recently announced controversial partnership with the NFL (which he had harshly criticized for its stance on Colin Kaepernick’s protests over police brutality and racial injustice), a social-change element is built into the deal, along with a check for an undisclosed but doubtless enormous amount.
On top of their individual solo tours, the Carters’ two international treks together — “On the Run” in 2014 and last year’s “OTR II” — made a combined total of more than $350 million, proving that the popularity of these married moguls continues to grow along with the size of their family. As Beyoncé puts it on the song “Boss”: “My great-great-grandchildren already rich / That’s a lot of brown children on your Forbes list.”
