Last updated: October 28, 2026
Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, is a Brooklyn rapper turned billionaire businessman who founded the entertainment company Roc Nation. On Oct. 26, 2026, the NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced he will headline the Super Bowl LXI halftime show on Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The twist is that he’s been running the show from backstage for years. Roc Nation has helped produce the halftime show since a 2019 deal with the NFL, and when that deal was announced, Jay-Z said his first words to Commissioner Roger Goodell were: “If this is about me performing at the Super Bowl, then we can just end this conversation now.” Forbes estimates his fortune at $2.8 billion, which makes him the richest musician on its list.
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Quick facts
Born: Shawn Corey Carter, December 4, 1969, Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in the Marcy Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Age: 56
Company: Founder and chairman of Roc Nation (2008). He co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records in 1995.
Family: Married to Beyoncé since 2008. They have three children: Blue Ivy and twins Rumi and Sir.
Net worth: $2.8 billion (Forbes, as of March 1, 2026). Forbes first called him hip-hop’s first billionaire in June 2019.
Awards: 25 Grammys from 89 nominations, according to ESPN. He’s in both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Known for: Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, “Empire State of Mind,” Roc Nation, D’Ussé, Armand de Brignac, Tidal and the NFL’s halftime show
Who is Jay-Z?
Jay-Z is a rapper who decided early that he would rather own the business than work for it. Every major label turned him down at the start. “I was rejected, not dejected,” he told GQ in March 2026. So in 1995 he started his own label, Roc-A-Fella Records, with Damon Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke, and sold his music out of a car. His 1996 debut, Reasonable Doubt, sold 43,000 copies at first, by his own count. He now calls not getting a deal “the biggest blessing” of his career.
He grew up in the Marcy Houses, a public housing project in Brooklyn. His father left the family when he was 11, and his mother, Gloria Carter, raised him and his three older siblings. He has rapped and written about selling drugs before music worked out.
The music worked. But the bigger story is what he built around it. He ran Def Jam Recordings from 2004 to 2007, a job he told GQ was “part of a whole deal” to get his master recordings back. He sold the clothing brand Rocawear for $204 million in 2007. In 2008 he founded Roc Nation, which grew into a label, a management company, a music publisher and, from 2013, a sports agency. Then came the liquor deals that, according to Forbes, did the most to make him rich. He sold half of the Champagne brand Armand de Brignac to LVMH in 2021 and most of his stake in the cognac brand D’Ussé to Bacardi in 2023.
His most visible deal, though, is with the NFL. In August 2019, Roc Nation signed on to advise on and help produce the league’s entertainment, including the Super Bowl halftime show, and to work on its Inspire Change social justice program. The deal was announced three years to the day after Colin Kaepernick’s first protest, and it drew heavy criticism. Under it, Roc Nation has picked halftime headliners from Rihanna to Kendrick Lamar to Bad Bunny. Now Goodell says he made one request when the partnership began, that Jay-Z perform “whenever the moment felt right to him.” February 2027 will be that moment.
Career timeline
1969: Born Dec. 4 in Brooklyn. Grows up in the Marcy Houses.
1995: Co-founds Roc-A-Fella Records with Damon Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke after the major labels pass on him.
1996: Releases Reasonable Doubt.
1999: Co-founds the clothing brand Rocawear with Dash.
2003: Opens the 40/40 Club in New York and buys a small stake in the New Jersey (later Brooklyn) Nets.
2004–2007: President of Def Jam Recordings.
2007: Sells the Rocawear brand to Iconix Brand Group for $204 million.
2008: Marries Beyoncé and launches Roc Nation.
2013: Sells his Nets stake and launches Roc Nation Sports.
2015: Buys Aspiro, the company behind the streaming service Tidal, for $56 million.
2017: Becomes the first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
2018: Co-founds Marcy Venture Partners, a venture firm named after the projects where he grew up.
January 2019: Helps launch REFORM Alliance with Meek Mill, Michael Rubin, Robert Kraft and others. The group focuses on probation and parole reform.
June 2019: Forbes names him hip-hop’s first billionaire.
August 2019: Roc Nation signs its entertainment and social justice partnership with the NFL.
2021: Sells 50% of Armand de Brignac to LVMH. Square (now Block) buys a majority of Tidal, and he joins its board. Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
February 2023: Bacardi buys most of his stake in D’Ussé.
September 2025: The Times Square casino he backed with Caesars and SL Green is voted down.
March 2026: Gives his first major interview in years, to GQ. Forbes puts his net worth at $2.8 billion.
Summer–fall 2026: Plays 30th-anniversary Reasonable Doubt shows at Yankee Stadium, London, Paris and SoFi Stadium.
Oct. 26, 2026: Announced as the Super Bowl LXI halftime headliner.
Notable deals & projects
Roc Nation (2008): His entertainment company. It started as a label, management and publishing venture with Live Nation and now includes Roc Nation Sports, which signed running back Saquon Barkley in 2018. Desiree Perez is CEO.
The NFL partnership (2019): Roc Nation co-produces the league’s entertainment presentations, including the halftime show, and works on Inspire Change. Roc Nation will executive produce his own Super Bowl LXI show, with Hamish Hamilton directing.
D’Ussé (sold to Bacardi in 2023): After a long legal fight over the cognac brand’s value, Bacardi bought most of his 50% stake. The price wasn’t announced. Jay-Z later told GQ, “I took 750m CASH, for 25 percent of my D’Ussé stake,” and said the whole company was valued at $3 billion. He still owns part of it.
Armand de Brignac (half sold to LVMH in 2021): The gold-bottled Champagne known as Ace of Spades. LVMH bought 50% and did not disclose the price.
Tidal (2015–2021): He bought the streaming service for $56 million and pitched it as owned by artists. Square agreed to buy a majority of it in a $297 million deal in 2021, and he joined Square’s board.
Marcy Venture Partners (2018): His venture firm backed companies including Gemini, Ledger and Savage X Fenty, according to Forbes. In 2024 it merged with the investment arm of Pendulum Holdings to form MarcyPen Capital Partners.
Caesars Palace Times Square (2022–2025): A $5.4 billion plan with Caesars and SL Green to turn 1515 Broadway into a casino and hotel. He lobbied for it in Albany, meeting Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins in May 2025. A local advisory committee killed it, 4–2, on Sept. 17, 2025.
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What he’s known for
Owning, not renting: He started his own label when no one would sign him, took back his masters and built most of his money on equity in brands rather than on endorsements.
Turning rap lines into business: Ace of Spades and D’Ussé showed up in his songs and grew into businesses that Forbes now credits with most of his fortune.
Picking partners on purpose: “At some point you’re going to have to partner with somebody,” he told GQ, explaining deals with LVMH, Bacardi and the NFL.
Running pop culture’s biggest stage: Since 2019, his company has helped decide who plays the most-watched concert in America.
In the news
Oct. 26, 2026: The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced that Jay-Z will headline the Super Bowl LXI halftime show on Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium. “From ‘Reasonable Doubt’ to standing on the Super Bowl halftime stage, this has been a journey,” he said. Roc Nation will executive produce it. The game will air on ESPN and ABC and stream on Disney+, according to ESPN.
October 2026: He closed his 30th-anniversary Reasonable Doubt run at SoFi Stadium, the same stadium that will host the Super Bowl. ESPN reported that the run included three sold-out shows at Yankee Stadium.
Sept. 9, 2026: A California appeals court upheld the dismissal of his extortion and defamation suit against lawyer Tony Buzbee. A separate federal case he filed in New York is ongoing, according to Law Commentary.
March 24, 2026: In a rare GQ interview, he defended billionaires, saying “morality is not defined by a dollar amount,” and called his 2025 “really hard.”
Quotes
“If this is about me performing at the Super Bowl, then we can just end this conversation now.” — To Roger Goodell, as he recalled at the NFL deal announcement, August 2019
“I think we’ve moved past kneeling and I think it’s time to go into actionable items.” — At the NFL deal announcement, August 2019
“Your morality is not defined by a dollar amount. And if so, what is that dollar amount?” — GQ, March 2026
“At some point you’re going to have to partner with somebody.” — GQ, March 2026
“Thirty years of music, work, and culture on the world’s biggest stage.” — Statement on the Super Bowl LXI announcement, Oct. 26, 2026
Controversies / criticism
The NFL deal and Colin Kaepernick: Critics said the 2019 partnership helped the league move past Kaepernick, who had been out of the NFL since 2017 after kneeling during the national anthem. Kaepernick’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, called the deal “cold-blooded,” and former 49ers safety Eric Reid also criticized it. Jay-Z said he still supported protest but wanted “actionable items.” In 2026 he told GQ the criticism was “understandable.”
The 2024 lawsuit: In December 2024, an anonymous woman represented by Tony Buzbee added Jay-Z to a civil suit accusing him and Sean Combs of sexually assaulting her in 2000, when she was 13. He denied it. She voluntarily dismissed the suit with prejudice in February 2025, meaning it can’t be refiled. His countersuit against Buzbee in California was dismissed in June 2025, and that dismissal was upheld on appeal in September 2026.
The 1999 stabbing case: He was charged in the stabbing of record executive Lance “Un” Rivera at a Manhattan club in 1999. He later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to three years’ probation. In 2023, Rivera said publicly that Jay-Z was not the person who stabbed him.
The Times Square casino: Broadway theater owners, unions and neighborhood groups fought his Caesars casino plan. After it lost, SL Green’s CEO called the committee’s vote “a despicable display of cowardice.”
Net worth & money
Forbes estimates Jay-Z’s net worth at $2.8 billion as of March 1, 2026. It has nearly tripled since Forbes declared him hip-hop’s first billionaire in June 2019. Forbes credits most of the gains to his liquor deals, with Armand de Brignac going half to LVMH in 2021 and most of D’Ussé going to Bacardi in 2023. It also counts his stake in Roc Nation, his music catalog, an art collection that includes Jean-Michel Basquiat works, a stake in Tidal and shares in Block and Uber. Forbes separately estimates Beyoncé at $1 billion, so the couple has two billionaires. All of these figures are estimates, and most of his holdings are private.
FAQ
Who is Jay-Z?
Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, is a Brooklyn-born rapper and businessman who founded Roc Nation. He will headline the Super Bowl LXI halftime show in February 2027.
Is Jay-Z performing at the Super Bowl?
Yes. He will headline the Super Bowl LXI halftime show on Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. His company, Roc Nation, is executive producing it.
Why didn’t Jay-Z perform at the Super Bowl before?
When Roc Nation signed with the NFL in 2019, he said he told Roger Goodell that if the deal was about him performing, “we can just end this conversation now.” Goodell said he asked Jay-Z to perform “whenever the moment felt right to him.”
What does Roc Nation do for the NFL?
Since 2019, Roc Nation has advised on and co-produced the NFL’s entertainment, including the Super Bowl halftime show, and worked on the league’s Inspire Change social justice initiative.
How much is Jay-Z worth?
Forbes estimates $2.8 billion as of March 1, 2026, which makes him the world’s richest musician by its count.
How old is Jay-Z?
He is 56. He was born on December 4, 1969.
Further reading
Jay-Z profile and net worth — Forbes
Jay-Z, Bacardi End Multibillion-Dollar Fight Over Cognac Venture — Bloomberg Law
Caesars Palace casino plan loses bid for New York City gambling license — AP
Who Is Saquon Barkley? — The Profile
The Profile: NBA’s money whisperer & the first rapper billionaire — The Profile
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