Jay-Z richest rapper in the universe

19 August 2010

by Christie Eliezer

Jay-Z is the world’s richest rapper, after earning US$63 million (Australian $69.8 million between June 2009 and June 2010. He topped the list compiled by US finance magazine “Forbes” for the second year in a row. The money came from sales of his music, business deals (like the successful Broadway run of “Fela!” and many endorsements.

The rest of the list is:

2: Diddy, $30m ($33.24m)

3: Akon, $21m ($23.26m)

4: Lil Wayne, $20m ($22.1m)

5: Dr. Dre, $17m ($18.8m)

6: Ludacris, $16m ($17.7m)

7: Snoop Dogg, $15m ($16.6m)

8: Timbaland, $14m ($15.5m)

9: Pharrell Williams, $13m ($14.4m)

10: Kanye West, $12m ($13.2m)

Forbes noted that all the highest earning names on the list had "diverse" business interests outside of music - including alcohol sponsorships, clothing lines and film appearances.

Lil’ Wayne made it into the list despite being in jail since March. But in the weeks before he went into the slammer, he cut many tracks to release while he was inside. Over 48 hours he shot nine videos!

The surprise was that Eminem, now with a #1 global album with “Relapse” (which sold 741,000 copies in America in its first week) only made $8 million ($8.86 million) and scraped into the list at #14.

List compiler Zack O'Malley Greenburg said: "It's pretty shocking to see him so low down on the list. Compared to his peers, he doesn't really do much outside of music."