This is a truly nice celebrity story, and I really hope it’s true. Star Magazine claims that a few months ago, Jay-Z gave every single person working for him a $50,000 bonus. Each! Even the assistants and low-level people got the bonus. I guess Jay had a lot of Samsung money to spread around? Or maybe he just had a really good year and decided to spread the wealth:
Jay-Z is making it rain! Fresh off the release of his 12th solo album, Magna Carta… Holy Grail, the music and business mogul has been showing his gratitude with lots of zeros.
“Earlier this year he handed out $50,000 bonuses to everyone in his company, which includes assistants and very low-level people,” a Jay-Z employee tells Star. “He even promised another bonus for Christmas.”
Jay-Z, who’s sold 50 million albums, helms an empire that extends well beyond music: he keeps the cash flowing as part owner of the Brooklyn Nets, CEO of fashion label Rocawear and founder of the ROC Nation Sports management agency.
“He’s extremely generous – most celebrities are supercheap when it comes to running their businesses,” says the insider. “He knows if his employees are happy, it will benefit him in the long run. His only demand was for everyone to have fun with the money.”
[From Star Magazine, print edition]
Considering we hear constant stories about Jay and Beyonce spending their money on crazy stuff like sapphire binkies for Blue Ivy, it’s nice to think that they’re actually paying their employees well. And then some. I wonder if the $50,000 bonus was more than some of Jay’s employees make in a year? Anyway, I’m all for this kind of CEO/corporate share-the-wealth scheme and God knows, it will do more to stimulate the economy than Jay blowing that money on one private jet. Noblesse oblige, y’all.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
I’m not Jay-Z’s biggest fan with him selling out to Samsung, but he is a good businessman. Roc-a-Fella records made him a whole lot of money, as did Rocanation. His whole “sports empire” is greatly exaggerated, but his behind the scenes dealing in the music industry and other business ventures were huge. Rocawear sold for $200 million several years ago. He also made a ton of bank when he ran Def Jam. Anyway, I can believe he gave out the money to his employees.
It is going to take more than this late-date PR effort to turn his (along with Beyonce) reputation around. He has been making multi-millions forever;
if it was a gesture from the heart he would have done it a long time ago.
Color me SKEPTICAL and it ain’t workin’.
Uh, what PR do they need turned around exactly? Both sell out tours around the world and sell crazy amounts of records…millions of fans, beloved and respected across the industry, numerous endorsements currently. I dont get your comment.
Also, how do we know he hasn’t done this before?
What I want to know is the math. How many people work for JZ – 100? more? less? If 100…that’s $5 mil cash. Did it come from his own pocked or is it a corporate write-off? Either way, that’s a huge chunk of liquidity.
Who cares??? Are you really going to try and find a way to play it like this wasn’t a kind thing to do?? No matter if it was 10, 50, or a 100 people. That’s 50 grand per person that he did not have to give that he did.
agreed. It was a kind jester, that could be life changing for some. I love that and really believe that if you have it you need to share it. wonderful.
Tee hee hee! I think you mean kind gesture.. but thank you, ‘kind jester’ just gave me so many chuckles!
Where did I say this was in any way bad? All I want to know is how much cash it was in total and where it came from. For all of their multi-mullion networth, even celebs rarely can play around with massive amounts of cash bc it’s usually tied up in less liquid assets. Sheesh, way to freak out people.
Completely. That’s a life changing amount of money. I love stories like this. Let’s hope its true and that the money is used and not wasted.
you know what I meant. it’s still early here, lmao.
lol. Honestly…I’m wondering the same thing too. Maybe he’s paying them that bonus over the year? I don’t know.
If this is true I think that is a very nice thing to do. I do believe that his new album shot up to #1 immediately and his concerts with JT are supposed to be great shows and are selling out everywhere. Good for Jay Z.
That’s a great story. I’m a very low-paid assistant myself and I just imagined my happiness if someone told me that I would get 50,000 dollars just like that, as a bonus and that I can expect another one in a few months. He’s right. That would be an amazing motivation.
I couldn’t imagine how much that would change my life. Pay of my debt and car, finish up schooling… wow. So jealous. My Christmas bonus is a turkey. For real. A frozen turkey.
Sometimes, we are lucky enough to get a turkey, too.
What a wonderful morning! GREAT NEWS
Wow, a turkey is pretty good! We get a pie. Yup. The choice between pumpkin and apple. Pssshh. You know you’re jealous….
Frankly, the headline shouldn’t say “…even the assistants.” It should say, …especially the assistants.
That’s amazing, and probably a huge windfall for some of the employees.
I’m getting old…couldn’t name one JZ song if my life depended on it……….Cheerz
Coming off from reading a story about Jay Z rarely give to charities (the article precised the African-American community), it’s quite refreshing to hear this piece of news today.
Anyone, and I mean, anyone can always use $50,000 even people with Jay’s wealth, go figure for those who are barely making it.
Kudos, J!
I keep hearing this and it kind of upsets me. I’ve been hearing stories about his generosity in Brooklyn (where I was also raised) since the late nineties. I’ve heard stories of him regularly sending money to older people from the old neighbourhood. Jays big crime is that he doesnt advertise his generosity.
I don’t really care about him either way, him and Beyonce get annoying a lot of the time but I’ve heard so many stories about him being very charitable. You’re right, he doesn’t advertise is like every other celebrity because he does it because he cares. I knew there would be people dogging him for giving staff bonuses.
Jay gives a lot! Just because someone doesn’t do it for the PR doesn’t mean he doesn’t do it. He’s handed out laptops and ipads to kids in the projects. He’s been known to randomly give people $100 bills or more. He has like 4-7 charities personally/professionally including his scholarship foundation which he is highly involved in. This whol he only gave xx dollars to charity is bullshit. Most celebrities give through corporations so there name isn’t attached or they aren’t solicated or taking attention away from the charity.
where is my recruitment form?
If this is true… That’s wonderful. Most celebs I ever waited on when I bartender in la were the cheapest people ever! I made more off of punk rockers who made crap! Good to see someone taking care of their employees
factor in the taxes… which will cut it significantly. but, still, considering they likely make $30k(ish) (total guess; but not unreasonable), it’s a very nice gesture. i’m sure there’s some tax benefit to him too…
Well, he can always avoid the cuts.
I don’t think there’d be too many people complaining that x amount of their *bonus* $50,000 was cut by taxes if that’s the case.
Cool.
Man what I can do with 50 grand. That’s so generous of Jay.
Very nice!
Funny how this story leaks after Belafonte’s criticism..
I am glad I am not the only one who is a cynic. It makes me wonder if a bigger is coming out and this is preparation for it. It has been around for years that him and Beyonce are notoriously cheap, especially when it comes to their staff. So I will be on the lookout over the next few weeks.
Jay Z and Beyonce are not cheap. If you do research, you will find that both of them have done a lot of charity and have been doing so for years.
Oh, I haven’t read of Belafonte’s criticism yet. I will investigate.
I guess, either way, many people got a lot of money to show they are valued. I like work stories like that.
But I love Harry Belafonte so I really want to hear what he has to say.
Belafontes statement was months ago, if this is a pr move its 1) too late 2) needlessly expensive.
In any case Harry B was basing his criticism on the lack of media coverage of their philanthropy. Only Jay Z and Beyonce (and their accountant) know how much they give. But as I said elsewhere, Jay Z is known as a big giver where we grew up. Like most good people, he gives silently. But he never forgot where he came from, this I know for a fact.
The man set up educational trusts for each of Shawn Bell’s children. He had done stuff like this for years, but I guess since he didn’t make a big show of it, he couldn’t convince some people.
Sad we have now come to point were we judge generosity…
This is nice, most of all in this economy, when even if you’ve got a job a bit of cash is always welcome.
Damn. Are there any job openings?
This is a really awesome thing to do, good on him.
I’m sure the employee’s are thrilled with their bonus, but this would have been done for tax purposes, not out of kindness. My employer does this on a slightly smaller scale every few years when they need to look like they’re running at a loss. It’s purely a business decision.
Finally a person whose comment makes sense. People just get stuck on the monetary value, but don’t consider the business/financial side of things, especially within a company.
In today’s world where outsourcing and cost cutting is at an all time high, it is highly suspicious hearing stories like this come out.
Lol. We are all so cynical and pessimistic. I love it! 🙂
These comments are so sad.
Who cares!!! $50,000 will change a life. So what if he gets a tax break.
Unless you are a financial advisor or personal friend you are wholly unqualified to speak about his motives. It would be different if you prefaced your statement with an ‘I think’ or ‘I bet’ jay-Z is a millionaire almost 650 times over so it would look ridiculous for him to try to offload these bonuses for tax purposes. He and his wife are known for their low-key financial largesse. Brooklyn is a strong, proud, diverse community and they don’t shell out praise or respect unless it is deserved. They have long loved Jay-Z for the many ways in which he makes life a little richer and more rewarding for so many people. I dont think you have followed his career enough to comment on his motives. Rather we should all find ways to give our time or money to help others, if we can. Everybody wins.
This is a great story. I really hope it’s true. I’ve never been a big fan of him and Beyoncé but the more I read the more I impressed (aside from B filming herself nonstop).
@ Jess – What B does with her video journal is awesome. I just watched her movie and it was well executed, covered a lot in her life and directly linked each event to her music and art, evoking inspiration and emotion in each part and connecting them as a whole. It’s like a journal but through camera, where you get to see her in her most intimate and vulnerable moments. I also assume you have never been to a Beyonce concert. You should go.
That’s awesome of him. More celebrities should spread their wealth around to deserving folks. If they manage their wealth correctly, they have more than they know what do with, anyway.
I’m sure this a move towards running for presidency one day. Good move Jay Z.
Oh dear Lord….please, *PLEASE*!! NOooooo!!
I just…no, I can’t even think of it! (although I believe his ego would probably *scream* at him saying he’d be PERFECT for the position!!). Ick!
And her, as FLOTUS??? Lmaorofpmpl. Hahaha!
Wow that’s great. You couldn’t buy that sort of publicity. Oh wait………..
He has a GREAT soul. 🙂 love this guy!
He probably does this annually. However, In our business, our bosses took our annual bonus and split it quarterly. He said that he understood that we needed that money thoughout the year. Love great bosses.