Jay-Z Net Worth

Jay-Z net worth:  

May 2011 to May 2012 Earnings:$38 million
May 2010 to May 2011 Earnings:$37 million
May 2009 to May 2010 Earnings:$63 million
May 2008 to May 2009 Earnings:$35 million
May 2007 to May 2008 Earnings:$82 million
May 2006 to May 2007 Earnings:$34 million
Marital status: Married to R&B recording artist Beyonce

American rapper, businessman and occasional actor, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, has an estimated net worth of $460 million as of April 2012, according to FORBES. Embodying the rags-to-riches rap dream, Jay-Z pulled himself up by his bootstraps as a youth to eventually become the reigning rapper of New York City and, in turn, a major-label executive following his short-lived retirement from music-making.  Like many of his rapping counterparts, Jay-Z made roughly $63 million in 2010 thanks to his rap career and superb business skills. In 2011, he made $37 million according to the Forbes Celebrity 100.

Jay-Z sold Rocawear clothing label for $204 million in 2007, signed 10-year $150 million Live Nation deal in 2008 and holds stakes in New Jersey Nets, 40/40 Club chain, and ad firm Translation. Jay-Z’s memoir Decoded hit bookstores in November 2010; business-focused biography Empire State of Mind by Forbes’ Zack O’Malley Greenburg followed in March. He married American R&B superstar Beyoncé Knowles on April 4, 2008 and on January 7, 2012, she gave birth to their daughter, named Blue Ivy Carter, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. He has sold approximately 50 million albums worldwide, while receiving thirteen Grammy Awards for his musical work, and numerous additional nominations. Born Shawn Corey Carter on December 4, 1969 in Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.