A few weeks back in the New York Times, a pretty revealing piece was released on Jay-Z that had to do with how well the rapper/mogul maximized his minimal investment in the Brooklyn Nets. Among the facts revealed was that the $1 million investment Jay-Z orginialy gave to the Nets amounts to just one-fifteenth of one percent of the franchise.
It was also revealed that someone at the NBA didn’t think the Nets’ black jerseys would look good on black people, and that the Barclays Center will have a Rocawear store, a 40/40 Club, and a champagne bar that sells his Armand de Brignac (Ace Of Spades, for you rappity rap guys).
Although the piece came out pretty glowing for the Carter Administration, it was revealed by David Halbfinger, the reporter of the story, that Jay-Z wanted absolutely nothing to do with the story. “I didn’t pitch them about wanting to know how much he owned. It was clearly one of the questions I had but it was not like I was leading with my chin,” said Halbfinger.
“I wasn’t like, ‘Hey, I’d really like to ask Jay-Z exactly what his partnership stake is and while you are at it can you tell me his address and phone number?’ I would argue with you on the notion of whether it undercuts his right to brag. In a way, you could brag that you had a larger piece of the Nets or you could brag that you’ve turned so much less of a piece of the Nets into so much more in perception. The judo involved in image-making and promotion and perception is reality that he has achieved with such a little percentage is something more to brag about than just putting on a larger chunk of change or having a larger percentage.”
As Halbfinger explains, Jay-Z invested $1 million and that was out of a $300 million purchase price. That’s one-third of one percent. A percentage that was even lowered with Mikhail D. Prokhorov purchase of the Nets. It essentially squeezes down the 100 percent of all the other people into 20 percent. Don’t know what you call that in the business world, but in hustling that’s called making a dollar out of 15 cents.
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Photo: AP
Props: Launch
