As a rapper, he's one of the greatest of all times, as a businessman, he's one of the few who manages to incorporate brands as an extension of himself, whether in fashion, music or even in the sports industry. A few days ago, Jay-z announced an investment of approximately $350 million in Fanatics, a sporting goods company that has grown enormously in recent years and will increasingly be present in locations outside the United States.
The rapper's contribution came via his sports entertainment company Roc Nation, giving him access to more than just money with the availability of the brand's athletes and market expertise. All of which together with other companies such as Softbank, Eldridge, Silver Lake and Insight Partners that also invested in Fanatics in other phases of investments intake. According to the Crunchbase platform, Fanatics is currently valued at $18 billion and has gone through eight rounds of investment totaling $2.7 billion from 2012 to date.
The current contribution, raised under the new direction of CEO Michael Rubin, aims to expand the operations of the Fanatics brand globally, which now also betting on the collectible ecosystem of NFTs, technological integration with a huge database of consumers, sports, betting sports and media, reinforcing the importance of Roc Nation, which is present in the company's daily activities.
Fanatics has enormous growth potential, and Jay-Z's presence is essential for that to happen. It may have been the last round of private investments for the brand before going public in the stock market, multiplying even more the rapper's fortune.
