Not long ago, Roc Nation CEO Jay-Z was pictured taking a yacht trip with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey around the island of Hawaii. Fans thought it was just for chill reasons, but industry gossips were of the opinion that a big business deal was about to go down.
The suspicions were accurate, as Square Inc. A company which Jack Dorsey also owns, announced they had purchased majority ownership of Jay-Z’s TIDAL music streaming platform.
Square will be dishing out a whopping $297 million in cash and stock in TIDAL. In return, Jay-Z will join Square Inc’s board of directors. According to the deal, TIDAL will continue to operate as a separate business entity, but with full access to all the software technology Square has to offer. This gigantic deal comes barely two weeks after Jay-Z sold half of his champagne company Armand de Brignac to LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton). At the time of the sale, his champagne company was worth an estimated $640 million.
Jay-Z was obviously excited, as he shared tit bits of the deal via his Twitter account, where he hadn’t tweeted since 2018.
He tweeted – “This partnership will be a game-changer for many. I look forward to all this new chapter has to offer!”
“He is one of the greatest minds of our times, and our many discussions about TIDAL’s endless possibilities have made me even more inspired about its future. This shared vision makes me even more excited to join the Square board.”
The hip hop legend also reiterated why TIDAL was one of the most important platforms for both upcoming and established artistes. He tweeted – “I said from the beginning that TIDAL was about more than just streaming music, and six years later, it has remained a platform that supports artists at every point in their careers. Artists deserve better tools to assist them in their creative journey.”
Two major deals in two weeks has seen Jay-Z’s net worth spike from around $1 billion to $1.4 billion. He has proven over the past two decades that his talent goes way beyond rap music, he’s an excellent businessman too! Other business ventures Jay-Z is known for include his chain of 40/40 nightclubs and sports bars, athlete management, clothing, and real estate. This is just another “feather in the hat” for Jay, who as a rapper, sold more than 50 million records, and won 22 Grammy Awards.
