Who Is Jay-Z? Biography, Age, Career, Family, Net Worth and Life Story
Jay-Z, born Shawn Corey Carter, is an American rapper, record executive and entrepreneur from Brooklyn, New York. He is widely ranked among the greatest rappers of all time and is the wealthiest musician in history, according to Forbes. On October 26, 2026, he confirmed he will headline the Super Bowl LXI halftime show in February 2027. That puts him on a stage he has helped shape for years through Roc Nation’s partnership with the NFL.
Table of Contents
- Who Is Jay-Z? Biography, Age, Career, Family, Net Worth and Life Story
- Who Is Jay-Z?
- What Is Jay-Z’s Real Name and How Old Is He?
- Early Life and Education
- How Did Jay-Z Start His Career?
- Jay-Z’s Career and Major Albums
- From Rapper to Mogul
- Jay-Z’s Awards and Recognition
- Jay-Z’s Personal Life and Family
- Jay-Z’s Net Worth and Sources of Income
- What Is Jay-Z Doing Now?
- Jay-Z’s Legacy and Influence
Who Is Jay-Z?
Jay-Z built his career on dense, witty rapping and an unusual instinct for business. He released 13 solo studio albums that each reached number one in the US, and 14 number-one albums overall on the Billboard 200, the third-most in history. He also became hip-hop’s first billionaire in 2019 through ownership stakes rather than record sales alone. In 2023, Billboard and Vibe named him the greatest rapper of all time, a ranking that drew plenty of pushback.
What Is Jay-Z’s Real Name and How Old Is He?
His birth name is Shawn Corey Carter. He took his stage name from his early mentor, the rapper Jaz-O. He was born on December 4, 1969, which makes him 56 as of October 2026. He has also been known as Hova, Jigga and, in his 2026 rebranding, JAŸ-Z, with an umlaut that nods to his debut album’s artwork.
Early Life and Education
Carter was born in Brooklyn and raised in the Marcy Houses, a public housing project in Bedford-Stuyvesant. His father, Adnis Reeves, left the family when Carter was a boy, and he and his three older siblings were raised by their mother, Gloria Carter. Reeves and his son reconciled before Reeves died in 2003. Carter attended Eli Whitney High School and George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Brooklyn, then Trenton Central High School in New Jersey, which he left without graduating. In his lyrics and interviews he has described selling drugs in that period.
How Did Jay-Z Start His Career?
Carter began recording in the late 1980s as a protégé of Jaz-O and became more widely known through a guest verse on Big Daddy Kane’s 1994 album. Unable to land a major-label deal, he sold copies of his music himself and, with Damon “Dame” Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke, founded the independent label Roc-A-Fella Records in the mid-1990s. His debut album, Reasonable Doubt, arrived on June 25, 1996, and peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200. It went gold and is now widely regarded as a classic. After Roc-A-Fella signed a distribution deal with Def Jam, his commercial career took off.
Jay-Z’s Career and Major Albums
The late 1990s and early 2000s brought a run of hits. Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life (1998) became his best-selling album at over six million copies in the US, and he topped the Hot 100 for the first time as a guest on Mariah Carey’s “Heartbreaker” in 1999. The Blueprint, released on September 11, 2001, was reportedly written in about two days and is considered one of rap’s defining records. It included four tracks produced by Kanye West, whom Jay-Z helped bring to prominence.
He announced a retirement with The Black Album (2003) and a farewell concert at Madison Square Garden that November, but returned with Kingdom Come in 2006. American Gangster (2007), The Blueprint 3 (2009) and the Kanye West collaboration Watch the Throne (2011) followed. Magna Carta Holy Grail arrived in 2013. His 2017 album 4:44 earned a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year, and in 2018 he and Beyoncé released the joint album Everything Is Love as The Carters.
Join Our Channels
Get new updates first.
From Rapper to Mogul
Jay-Z co-founded the clothing brand Rocawear in 1999 and sold the rights to Iconix for $204 million in 2007. He opened the 40/40 Club in 2003 and became president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings in 2004, where the label’s roster grew to include Rihanna and Ne-Yo. He left the role at the end of 2007 and launched Roc Nation, an entertainment and management company, in 2008. He also owned a small stake in the Brooklyn Nets from 2003 to 2013.
Later deals included a $200 million investment in Armand de Brignac champagne in 2014 and the 2015 purchase of Tidal’s parent company, Aspiro, for $56 million. Block, Inc. acquired a majority of Tidal in 2021, and Jay-Z joined its board. Roc Nation has co-produced the Super Bowl halftime show with the NFL since 2019, and Jay-Z won a Primetime Emmy as a producer of the 2022 show.
Jay-Z’s Awards and Recognition
According to Wikipedia, Jay-Z has won 25 Grammy Awards. He was the first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021. Time named him one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2013. In 2006 he was enstooled as a chief in the Nigerian chieftaincy system, with the title Sarkin Waka of Kwara. In 2026, The New York Times included him on its list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters.
Jay-Z’s Personal Life and Family
Jay-Z married Beyoncé on April 4, 2008, in a private ceremony in New York. Their daughter Blue Ivy was born on January 7, 2012, and twins Rumi and Sir were born in June 2017. In 2023, the couple bought a Malibu house reported at $200 million, a California sales record. His mother, Gloria Carter, co-founded the Shawn Carter Foundation with him in 2003 to help students from low-income backgrounds attend college.
Not every chapter has been flattering. In 1999 he was accused of stabbing the record executive Lance Rivera at a New York nightclub, and he pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and received probation. Rivera later said Jay-Z was not the person who stabbed him. In October 2024, an anonymous woman filed a civil lawsuit accusing Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexual assault in 2000, and Jay-Z was later named as a defendant. He denied the claim and called it blackmail. The plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the case against him with prejudice on February 14, 2025, with no settlement. A Los Angeles judge dismissed his separate suit against the plaintiff’s lawyer, Tony Buzbee, in July 2025, and in 2026 he filed a new federal suit against Buzbee and others.
Jay-Z’s Net Worth and Sources of Income
Forbes first declared Jay-Z a billionaire in 2019 and put his net worth at $2.5 billion in recent years. Wikipedia reports $2.8 billion as of 2026, citing Forbes. Most of that wealth comes from business holdings rather than music sales, including the Armand de Brignac and D’Ussé brands, Roc Nation, his Tidal and Block interests, investments and real estate. These are third-party estimates, not audited figures.
What Is Jay-Z Doing Now?
The 2026 calendar has been busy. He re-released “Dead Presidents” for the 30th anniversary of Reasonable Doubt, headlined the Roots Picnic in May, and played two Yankee Stadium shows on July 10 and 11 marking the anniversaries of Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint. His Jay-Z 30 concert series finished with two nights at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on October 23 and 24. Guests included his daughter Blue Ivy, DJ Khaled, John Legend, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. On October 26, he announced that he will headline the Super Bowl LXI halftime show at SoFi Stadium in February 2027.
Jay-Z’s Legacy and Influence
Jay-Z showed that a rapper could own the masters, the label and the surrounding businesses rather than just perform on them. His blend of street storytelling and boardroom ambition influenced a generation of artists who followed him into entrepreneurship. He also helped launch careers at Def Jam and Roc Nation, and he brought hip-hop to venues like Glastonbury, where he headlined in 2008.
