Offering up the most definitive evidence yet that global markets are in the midst of an epic bubble, particularly the tech market with its multi-billion dollar valuations being handed out to every 20-year-old millennial with moderate programming skills and a dream of snapping selfies that automatically transpose ones face with that of a lemur, Jay Z (a.k.a. Shawn Carter) has decided to launch his own venture capital fund.
Per Axios, Jay Z will be partnering with Sherpa Capital and will focus on "seed-stage" tech investments.
Rapper and ubiquitous mogul Jay Z is launching a venture capital fund, according to multiple sources. One of his partners will be Jay Brown, a longtime business partner and president of Roc Nation.
The pair also is scouring the venture market for a full-time investment partner. The "Jays" also are partnering with Sherpa Capital, although this won't be a Sherpa-branded effort, and existing Sherpa staff won't be leading investments.
Expect the focus to be on seed-stage tech opportunities, with this really being the institutionalization of Jay Z and Jay Brown's previous angel investing activities. For example, they both were in Uber's Series B, at a $300m pre-money.
Of course, this isn't Jay's first foray into alternative business lines. Back in April 2013, Jay Z launched his own sports agency, Roc Nation Sports, and quickly signed New York Yankees's second baseman Robinson Cano.
In March 2015, the rap legend acquired Tidal, a Norwegian media technology company that operates the subscription-based music streaming service, for $56 million and just sold a 33% stake of that same company to Sprint at a $600mm valuation...not a bad return for 2 years.
Other investments have included a $20mm stake in JetSmarter, an app that lets people book private executive plane rides in seconds, and the $200mm acquisition of Armand de Brignac, a champagne previously owned Sovereign Brands.
So much for the "Hard Knock Life"...