What’s Better Than 1 Billionaire? 2. JAY-Z Passes Puffy On The Forbes List

Diddy once famously claimed that it’s all about the Benjamin’s. Well, now he and JAY-Z are closing in on about 10,000,000 of them. Both are atop Forbes’ annual “Wealthiest Artists of Hip-Hop list.”

For years the mogul also known as Puff Daddy held the crown, but at this time, it’s Shawn Carter who’s accumulated the most cash-fluence. Jay reportedly upped his net worth from $810 million to $900 million this past year. Of course, his businesses are a lot of the reason. Roc Nation, Tidal, and D’Ussé and Armand de Brignac are just a few raking in the dough. He also put out music and toured. What is not completely clear is how it was enough to top Puff, who’s held the wealthiest crown five times.

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Perhaps some of it had to do with Diddy’s very minor improvements from a year ago. The Bad Boy Records founder went from a reported $820 million in 2017 to $825 million. The magazine claims this had to do with “tepid trends” in the vodka and cable TV sectors, affecting his holdings in Ciroc and Revolt – however, his DeLeón tequila seems to be picking up steam. Last year, the two friends created a documentary celebrating black success called Black Excellence A Short Film: What’s Better Than One Billionaire? Two.

What also made JAY-Z’s climb to the top even more impressive is that he was spending money while earning it. Notably, Jay and Beyoncé reportedly spent $26 million on an East Hampton, New York mansion and dropped $88 million on a Bel Air, California estate in the past year.

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Dr. Dre, who has also previously topped the yearly Forbes list, comes in at number three, earning $770 million last year. The Electronics mogul, music and film super-producer, and Aftermath Entertainment founder could find himself back on top though once his Apple stock vests this year.

Drake and Eminem tied to round out the top 5, each securing a $100 million net worth in 2017.