ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / ECONOMY & WORK

Dinner with Jay-Z or $500,000? Rapper finally settles the debate with surprising answer

The rapper says people can find all the wisdom in his music.
UPDATED NOV 27, 2024
Rapper Jay-Z performing at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards | (Cover image source: Getty Images | Dave M. Benett)
Rapper Jay-Z performing at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards | (Cover image source: Getty Images | Dave M. Benett)

A hypothetical question, "Would you rather have dinner with rapper Jay-Z or take $500,000 in cash?" has been making rounds on social media since 2017. Last year, it finally reached Jay-Z, who settled the debate with a surprising answer. In an interview with CBS Morning's Gayle King, Jay-Z advised fans to take the $500,000 and buy his wisdom.

American rapper and music producer Jay-Z at the UEFA Champions League Final | Getty Images | Photo by ANP
American rapper and music producer Jay-Z at the UEFA Champions League Final | (Image source: Getty Images | ANP)

The “dinner with Jay-Z or $500K” meme has been going viral in various iterations since 2017. The premise of the meme is if the "99 Problems" rapper can share wisdom worth $500K over a dinner. 

The meme took off in 2021 when users who picked the dinner with Jay-Z were trolled for their choice, implying that taking the money was the obvious correct answer, as per Know Your Meme.

Years later, the rapper himself said, "You gotta take the money."

Before he became Jay-Z, Shawn Carter was struggling as a 13-year-old child, selling drugs on the street. He has had an inspiring rise as a rapper and music producer, selling over 140 million records.

He turned his musical success into a sprawling business empire. Apart from his own companies, he has made lucrative investments in record labels, sports teams, clothing brands, and alcohol brands. Thus, Jay-Z's wise money moves made him the world's first billionaire rapper. He is now estimated to be worth $2.5 billion, as per Forbes. 



 

Therefore, choosing a dinner to utilize his wisdom should be the right choice. However, Jay-Z believes that money could be a better bet as people can find all the wisdom in his music. With 13 Billboard 200 No.1 albums, the rap icon from Brooklyn doesn't seem to be wrong. 

“I wouldn’t tell you to cut a bad deal. Like, take the $500,000, go buy some albums, and listen to the albums,” he said in the CBS Mornings interview. He added that if fans "piece it together" and listen to the music for words, they will find all his wisdom there. 



 

"The blueprint to me and my life and my journey is there already," the rapper said. While Jay-Z says he would take the money, the rapper himself once had a high-profile lunch meeting with legendary investor Warren Buffet, back in 2010. The two reportedly discussed the strategies of investing in music at the time. The rapper talked about how he invests only in businesses and music that he understands.

"Music is like stocks, there’s the hot thing of the moment," the rapper said. He suggested that people often make emotional decisions based on that and fail to stick with things that they know. 



 

This prompted Buffet to say that the Roc Nation founder was a good source of money-making advice. "For a young person growing up, he’s the guy to learn from," the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway said at the time, as per CNBC Make It.

This article originally appeared 3 months ago.

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
The two came up with a brilliant invention for anyone who finds it difficult to relieve themselves in the wilderness.
4 hours ago
Samara Leilani who won a brand new Nissan showed that things aren't as they appear on the show.
5 hours ago
Students supported him to get on a flight to Los Angeles for an audition that changed his life.
1 day ago
She shared a video that demonstrated how she got fed up with the slow-moving line at Walmart and decided to take action.
1 day ago
Celebrity Week on "The Price is Right" allows celebrities to play games that the show is known for.
2 days ago
She saw that the woman taking instructions from someone on the phone and noticed something was wrong.
2 days ago
The moment became unforgettable for audiences, and the presenter was appreciated for his recovery.
3 days ago
Even without the raise, Oliver remains one of the top-paid faces on American television.
3 days ago
The story resonated with thousands of fans who made sure to set things right for the hardworking man .
3 days ago
After O'Leary and Rodriguez made offers, Cuban also joined Greiner to make an offer.
4 days ago
The Home Depot staffer requests the individual's tax-exempt number, which the individual declines.
4 days ago
She also called out Walmart after describing how she was feeling about wearing unwashed clothes.
5 days ago
Like any struggling young actor in the 80s, White was looking for any opportunity to appear on TV.
5 days ago
The man bought three tickets but left the last one at the counter and the man on the counter just checked it out of curiosity.
6 days ago
Perry's comments about splitting bills and the women being the breadwinner did not go down well with many.
6 days ago
The woman finally asked for help from a worker at Walmart and found out more alarming details.
7 days ago
Walmart worker confronts the return scammer, sparking a viral debate on ethical consumer behavior.
7 days ago
She was only offered $6,600 as a “goodwill gesture” for being the winner. 
Dec 6, 2024
The man from New Jersey bagged the reward when he was in the studio just as a member of the audience.
Dec 5, 2024
Viewers were left scrambling for an explanation until the glitch was fixed during a re-run later that year.
Dec 5, 2024