Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think there's been one right? And no Paul McCartney is NOT nor never was a billionaire despite popular belief.

I'm interested because I was reading a Forbes article that said they expect Jay-Z to be a billionaire in the next five years. He'd obviously be the first in rap but I was wondering whether he'd be the first overall.

Michael Jackson should have easily been one but I don't feel like getting into it. The most finacially mis-managed artist in history.

musicjunky318 said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think there's been one right? And no Paul McCartney is NOT nor never was a billionaire despite popular belief.

I'm interested because I was reading a Forbes article that said they expect Jay-Z to be a billionaire in the next five years. He'd obviously be the first in rap but I was wondering whether he'd be the first overall.

Michael Jackson should have easily been one but I don't feel like getting into it. The most finacially mis-managed irresponsible artist in history.

are we counting dead ones? how about Elvis?

I imagine Bono might be close due to his business interests.

Jay's money is mostly to do with his Live Nation deal and U2 have been working with Live Nation for longer, I believe.

I imagine Prince isn't far off, either. I remember reading he was worth half a billion before even the Musicology tour happened, and he had to have made a serious amount from the Earth Tour as well ($200 million in revenue from ticket sales alone.... you gotta imagine he took at least half of that if not more....)..... Vegas residency probably brought in a nice amount of money.

Master P is worth over $600 million.....

yeah, I'm surprised by that too

errant said:

musicjunky318 said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think there's been one right? And no Paul McCartney is NOT nor never was a billionaire despite popular belief.

I'm interested because I was reading a Forbes article that said they expect Jay-Z to be a billionaire in the next five years. He'd obviously be the first in rap but I was wondering whether he'd be the first overall.

Michael Jackson should have easily been one but I don't feel like getting into it. The most finacially mis-managed irresponsible artist in history.

are we counting dead ones? how about Elvis?

No. I wanna know about people walkin around with a billion.

Militant said:

I imagine Bono might be close due to his business interests.

Jay's money is mostly to do with his Live Nation deal and U2 have been working with Live Nation for longer, I believe.

I imagine Prince isn't far off, either. I remember reading he was worth half a billion before even the Musicology tour happened, and he had to have made a serious amount from the Earth Tour as well ($200 million in revenue from ticket sales alone.... you gotta imagine he took at least half of that if not more....)..... Vegas residency probably brought in a nice amount of money.

Oh wowz.

bboy87 said:

Master P is worth over $600 million.....

yeah, I'm surprised by that too

From what?

musicjunky318 said:

bboy87 said:

Master P is worth over $600 million.....

yeah, I'm surprised by that too

From what?

No Limit put out so many fucking albums between 96-2001, I ain't surprised. and P made a bigger cut since No Limit was his label. There had to have been damn near 50 albums released on No Limit just in 98/99 alone. Even if each one of those records only went gold, and the CD's retailed at $15, that's $75 mill right there, and a fair few of those records went either platinum or multi-platinum in some cases. He had other ventures like No Limit Films as well.

$600 mill seems a little extreme, but I'd guesstimate that he's worth at least $300 mill. Forbes Magazine had him at $60 mill in '98, and he made a LOT more money in 99, 2000, and 2001.

[Edited 9/23/10 20:51pm]

If Prince was even close he would have had no need to wait to pay all those bills. I'm not trying to start any kind of debate, argument, etc., but I don't think the man handles his funds very well.

Jay-Z is close because of all his business ventures outside of music. There was a breakdown of his income pretty recently in Forbes, I believe. I don't remember everything but it definitely said his shows were bringing in about a million per. But that's gross, not net. I'm sure his LiveNation deal is sweet, but it's not making him a billionare.

I'm pretty sure U2 splits everything relating to their music four ways.

Militant said:

musicjunky318 said:

From what?

No Limit put out so many fucking albums between 96-2001, I ain't surprised. and P made a bigger cut since No Limit was his label. There had to have been damn near 50 albums released on No Limit just in 98/99 alone. Even if each one of those records only went gold, and the CD's retailed at $15, that's $75 mill right there, and a fair few of those records went either platinum or multi-platinum in some cases. He had other ventures like No Limit Films as well.

$600 mill seems a little extreme, but I'd guesstimate that he's worth at least $300 mill. Forbes Magazine had him at $60 mill in '98, and he made a LOT more money in 99, 2000, and 2001.

[Edited 9/23/10 20:51pm]

Bboy is right. Over $600 million. I just got this from celebritynetworth.com

$661 Million

"Master P (real name Percy Miller) has built a well diversified empire that includes several rap labels, a clothing line, a management company, a high end travel agency, a film production company, a video game company and even a phone sex line. His most notable and likely most successful endeavor has been his No Limit record company which pioneered the Southern Rap sound and has sold over 80 million records worldwide. In 1998 alone Forbes Magazine estimated his income at $56.5 million."

Cerebus said:

If Prince was even close he would have had no need to wait to pay all those bills. I'm not trying to start any kind of debate, argument, etc., but I don't think the man handles his funds very well.

Not true at all. Prince was not waiting to pay those bills because it was a stretch for him to pay them.....nowhere CLOSE. He was most likely contesting them, or decided to arbitraily putt it on the backburner for some whimsical reason.

We've discussed this to death in other threads. I've left bills unpaid for a long time before, and it wasn't because I couldn't afford to pay them. One time in particular I was just about to go on a long international tour with my band and I simply had too many other things on my mind to deal with and figured I'd just sort it out when I got back.

Another one went unpaid for three years because both I and the corporation forget about it, then one day I got a letter out of the blue reminding me.

Prince is easily still worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Without question.

Another possibility is that he just employs people to handle all that stuff that don't know what they're doing.

musicjunky318 said:

Militant said:

No Limit put out so many fucking albums between 96-2001, I ain't surprised. and P made a bigger cut since No Limit was his label. There had to have been damn near 50 albums released on No Limit just in 98/99 alone. Even if each one of those records only went gold, and the CD's retailed at $15, that's $75 mill right there, and a fair few of those records went either platinum or multi-platinum in some cases. He had other ventures like No Limit Films as well.

$600 mill seems a little extreme, but I'd guesstimate that he's worth at least $300 mill. Forbes Magazine had him at $60 mill in '98, and he made a LOT more money in 99, 2000, and 2001.

[Edited 9/23/10 20:51pm]

Bboy is right. Over $600 million. I just got this from celebritynetworth.com

$661 Million

"Master P (real name Percy Miller) has built a well diversified empire that includes several rap labels, a clothing line, a management company, a high end travel agency, a film production company, a video game company and even a phone sex line. His most notable and likely most successful endeavor has been his No Limit record company which pioneered the Southern Rap sound and has sold over 80 million records worldwide. In 1998 alone Forbes Magazine estimated his income at $56.5 million."

I totally forgot about the clothing line. I seem to remember that was quite popular as well about a decade ago, and there's a lot of money in the clothing industry for sure.

That site has Jay-Z at $450 million and Prince at $250 million.

I think they are both worth a lot more than that.

Id say Madonna?

Cerebus said:

If Prince was even close he would have had no need to wait to pay all those bills. I'm not trying to start any kind of debate, argument, etc., but I don't think the man handles his funds very well.

Jay-Z is close because of all his business ventures outside of music. There was a breakdown of his income pretty recently in Forbes, I believe. I don't remember everything but it definitely said his shows were bringing in about a million per. But that's gross, not net. I'm sure his LiveNation deal is sweet, but it's not making him a billionare.

I'm pretty sure U2 splits everything relating to their music four ways.

Where'd you get that idea from? Prince was always business savvy in my eyes. It's MJ who didn't handle his earnings in the proper manner and ended up in debt. Prince is obsessive-compulsive over his material and always aimed for chief control.

musicjunky318 said:

Michael Jackson should have easily been one but I don't feel like getting into it. The most finacially mis-managed artist in history.

and that's his own fault.

musicjunky318 said:

Cerebus said:

If Prince was even close he would have had no need to wait to pay all those bills. I'm not trying to start any kind of debate, argument, etc., but I don't think the man handles his funds very well.

Jay-Z is close because of all his business ventures outside of music. There was a breakdown of his income pretty recently in Forbes, I believe. I don't remember everything but it definitely said his shows were bringing in about a million per. But that's gross, not net. I'm sure his LiveNation deal is sweet, but it's not making him a billionare.

I'm pretty sure U2 splits everything relating to their music four ways.

Where'd you get that idea from? Prince was always business savvy in my eyes. It's MJ who didn't handle his earnings in the proper manner and ended up in debt. Prince is obsessive-compulsive over his material and always aimed for chief control.

"In your eyes" has nothing to do with it. When is Prince ever in any of the lists discussing such topics? Those lists aren't gathered from some deep dark hidden place. They come from public record. Prince spends his money, and from what we've seen, heard and read, often not very wisely.

musicjunky318 said:

Militant said:

No Limit put out so many fucking albums between 96-2001, I ain't surprised. and P made a bigger cut since No Limit was his label. There had to have been damn near 50 albums released on No Limit just in 98/99 alone. Even if each one of those records only went gold, and the CD's retailed at $15, that's $75 mill right there, and a fair few of those records went either platinum or multi-platinum in some cases. He had other ventures like No Limit Films as well.

$600 mill seems a little extreme, but I'd guesstimate that he's worth at least $300 mill. Forbes Magazine had him at $60 mill in '98, and he made a LOT more money in 99, 2000, and 2001.

[Edited 9/23/10 20:51pm]

Bboy is right. Over $600 million. I just got this from celebritynetworth.com

$661 Million

"Master P (real name Percy Miller) has built a well diversified empire that includes several rap labels, a clothing line, a management company, a high end travel agency, a film production company, a video game company and even a phone sex line. His most notable and likely most successful endeavor has been his No Limit record company which pioneered the Southern Rap sound and has sold over 80 million records worldwide. In 1998 alone Forbes Magazine estimated his income at $56.5 million."

Sports agent, cloting, tv shows, ect get him 661 million.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

musicjunky318 said:

Bboy is right. Over $600 million. I just got this from celebritynetworth.com

$661 Million

"Master P (real name Percy Miller) has built a well diversified empire that includes several rap labels, a clothing line, a management company, a high end travel agency, a film production company, a video game company and even a phone sex line. His most notable and likely most successful endeavor has been his No Limit record company which pioneered the Southern Rap sound and has sold over 80 million records worldwide. In 1998 alone Forbes Magazine estimated his income at $56.5 million."

Sports agent, cloting, tv shows, ect get him 661 million.

Didn't he buy into some communications company way back, too? Like, a cell phone company or something. That's what I remember reading - could be wrong, though.

Cerebus said:

musicjunky318 said:

Where'd you get that idea from? Prince was always business savvy in my eyes. It's MJ who didn't handle his earnings in the proper manner and ended up in debt. Prince is obsessive-compulsive over his material and always aimed for chief control.

"In your eyes" has nothing to do with it. When is Prince ever in any of the lists discussing such topics? Those lists aren't gathered from some deep dark hidden place. They come from public record. Prince spends his money, and from what we've seen, heard and read, often not very wisely.

I've never heard about him being in debt. And Forbes estimated he made $50 million back in 2004.

http://www.forbes.com/lis.../4L20.html

Cerebus said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Sports agent, cloting, tv shows, ect get him 661 million.

Didn't he buy into some communications company way back, too? Like, a cell phone company or something. That's what I remember reading - could be wrong, though.

[img:$uid]http://www.moviegoods.com/Assets/product_images/1020/211125.1020.A.jpg[/img:$uid]

I thought that was just a movie, lol.

musicjunky318 said:

Cerebus said:

"In your eyes" has nothing to do with it. When is Prince ever in any of the lists discussing such topics? Those lists aren't gathered from some deep dark hidden place. They come from public record. Prince spends his money, and from what we've seen, heard and read, often not very wisely.

I've never heard about him being in debt. And Forbes estimated he made $50 million back in 2004.

http://www.forbes.com/lis.../4L20.html

I'm not claiming he's ever been in debt as it's not something I have intimate knowledge of. However, $50 million in 2004 would largely be the Musicology tour money, right? I believe it ended up grossing over $80 million - somebody will know for sure. And that was 2004 - this is 2010. Master P is worth $660 million. Jay Z, according to the current front page of Forbes.com, will likely be a billionaire soon. Prince is never part of these discussions. Dude has made a lot of money, but he's spent a lot of money over the years, too. Particularly since the WB years ended and he's had to pay for everything himself. I'm sure he lives a great life. One we'd all be more than happy to experience. And it's pretty clear that he actually owns a good amount of property in MN. But it also seems pretty clear that he to do some work this Summer to pay off some bills and lawyers. If dude was approaching "billionaire" status that would not have been the case.

Before I get pounced on by the Purple Army, these ain't facts! I'm admitting that up front. Just working through what looks to me like pretty clear and obvious logic based on public record. If somebody has facts to the contrary, consider me corrected.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Cerebus said:

Didn't he buy into some communications company way back, too? Like, a cell phone company or something. That's what I remember reading - could be wrong, though.

[img:$uid]http://www.moviegoods.com/Assets/product_images/1020/211125.1020.A.jpg[/img:$uid]

I thought that was just a movie, lol.

You may be right! I did a search for it but so many things show up for anything related to phones or cell phones that I can't find an answer. This says he started a phone sex service, though. http://www.answers.com/topic/master-p

The full Jay-Z article. It always seems to come back to those masters. Poor Prince. Dude was so far ahead of his time in complaining about that mess, but it did him absolutely no good. No wonder there hasn't been any remastered re-releases through WB.

This article doesn't even get into Jay's minority ownership of the NJ Nets, his 40/40 clubs, Fela!, clothing companies, vodka, licensing, etc.

Jay-Z’s $50 Million Music Box

Image via Wikipedia

In the latest issue of Forbes, we argue that Jay-Z will ...Forbes 400—our list of the country’s wealthiest citizens—by 2015. To do so, he will have to double his current estimated net worth of $450 million. Seems like a lot of work to do in half a decade, unless you take into account an asset worth at least $50 million that’s scheduled to drop into his lap four years from now.

The property in question is Jay-Z’s set of master recordings, also known as mechanical rights or simply masters. When most artists sign record deals, they give up these rights in exchange for an advance payment, a smaller royalty of 10-15% on music sales and the prestige of recording an album for a major record label. The label either keeps these rights and profits from every radio play, every digital download, every album sold—or sells the masters to a third party who reaps the benefits instead.

When Jay-Z signed on to become Def Jam’s president in 2004, he shrewdly negotiated the return of his masters in addition to an annual salary approaching eight figures. Though he left Def Jam in 2007 and a year later launched Roc Nation, a joint-venture label with concert promoter Live Nation, his Def Jam masters are scheduled to revert to him in 2014. As part of a separate deal with EMI, his publishing rights—which cover the use of songs in television commercials, sampling by other artists and more—will return to him in 2013, combining to form an incredible asset.

“It’s a valuable catalog,” says Ryan Schinman, chief of Platinum Rye, the world’s largest buyer of music and talent for corporations. “Jay-Z was obviously a very smart negotiator to get the rights back. Now he can keep them or sell them again.”

The catalog’s precise value is difficult to pinpoint because, as Schinman says, any catalog is worth only as much as someone will pay for it. But it’s possible to come up with a ballpark figure. Jay-Z himself has gone on record saying that his first album, Reasonable Doubt, throws off $100,000 per year in catalog. The album sold a little over 1 million copies and doesn’t contain any of the smash hits that helped push subsequent efforts as high as 5 million. Still, this offers a conservative rule of thumb to use in evaluating expected residual revenues from an album: ten cents per year per album copy sold.

Apply that logic to Jay-Z’s entire catalog—he’s sold nearly 50 million albums worldwide—and you come up with a figure of $5 million per year, which is what he’ll be earning from his master recordings and publishing rights as soon as they revert to him in 2013-2014. According to Schinman, catalogs tend to sell for a 6x-10x multiple of annual revenues. Thus, the assets set to return to Jay-Z should be worth about $50 million. Add the music made after his departure from Def Jam and the songs he’ll record over the next few years, as well as appreciation of his musical portfolio over time, and the value of his catalog could approach $100 million within the next five years.

Jay-Z already sits atop our list of Hip-Hop’s Cash Kings. With numbers like that on the horizon, it’s a good bet Jay-Z will join likes of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on the Forbes 400 by 2015. In the meantime, check back here for more thoughts on the business of music—and for updates on my business-focused biography of Jay-Z, due out this winter from Penguin.

Cerebus said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

[img:$uid]http://www.moviegoods.com/Assets/product_images/1020/211125.1020.A.jpg[/img:$uid]

I thought that was just a movie, lol.

You may be right! I did a search for it but so many things show up for anything related to phones or cell phones that I can't find an answer. This says he started a phone sex service, though. http://www.answers.com/topic/master-p

Yep, there was a phone sex line, I can't find the advertisments though

midiscover said:

musicjunky318 said:

Michael Jackson should have easily been one but I don't feel like getting into it. The most finacially mis-managed artist in history.

and that's his own fault.

Having people who have their own interests in mind instead of yours does no one any favors.

musicjunky318 said:

Cerebus said:

"In your eyes" has nothing to do with it. When is Prince ever in any of the lists discussing such topics? Those lists aren't gathered from some deep dark hidden place. They come from public record. Prince spends his money, and from what we've seen, heard and read, often not very wisely.

I've never heard about him being in debt. And Forbes estimated he made $50 million back in 2004.

http://www.forbes.com/lis.../4L20.html

Prince has had financial problems in the past.The first time was in 1988.'Lovesexy' wasn't selling and the tour wasn't selling out in many cities.His Paisley Park Records label was releasing one flop album after another.The second time was in 1995.You should google the newspaper article "Purple Drain" which appeared in the St.Paul Pioneer Press.Nobody doubts that Prince is capable of making alot of money.The problem is,he doesn't know how to manage it and spend it wisely.

xperience319 said:

Id say Madonna?

Madonna is a smart woman when it comes to money She makes good business decisions.

bboy87 said:

midiscover said:

and that's his own fault.

Having people who have their own interests in mind instead of yours does no one any favors.

musicjunky318 said:

Michael Jackson should have easily been one but I don't feel like getting into it. The most financially mis-managed artist in history.

If he had played his cards right,he would have easily became a billionaire.Imagine if he had been touring alot during these last ten years.