Jay-Z Still Pulls in 10 Figures Despite Bad Investments

The New York Post never seems terribly interested in Jay-Z as an artist, but when following Shawn Carter as a New York City cash cow, they never stray too far off the beat. In Sunday's paper (May 16), Catherine Curan published a recap of all the ways Hov has made and lost money lately.

The two biggest bumps Jay has suffered during the recession have come in the form of hotels. Hov invested in projects in the Chelsea and Meatpacking District neighborhoods of Manhattan and both fizzled out, costing the rapper approximately $50 million. In addition, the Las Vegas edition of Jay's '40/40 Club' closed in 2008 and his bid to bring gambling back to New York's aqueduct stalled last year when the state asked for full financial disclosure. On smaller matters, 'Fela' still hasn't turned a profit and the Nets are the worst team in basketball. Even through all those losses, things are going great overall.

"The first thing about Jay-Z is, he's got a lot of breadth to his holdings," explained Dan Charnas, author of 'The Big Payback: the History of the Business of Hip Hop,' due out in September. "He has that combination of vision, ability, fame and the power to execute working with the right people."

No matter how far Jay strays from his music industry bread-and-butter, he is considered a billion dollar empire, bringing in retail sales and valuation at an estimated 10 figures per year. His $150 million Live Nation deal is considered a huge success thus far and the combination of the 'Blueprint 3' album and its resulting tours will still most likely keep him up atop many a Forbes list this year.