Beyonce and Jay-Z’s Family Lifestyle Is Astounding

Here's a glimpse into the lavish family lifestyle of power couple Beyonce and Jay-Z.

Beyonce and Jay-Z’s Family Lifestyle Is Utterly Insane

On the Run Tour — Beyonce and Jay-Z perform during the Beyonce and Jay-Z – On the Run tour at AT&T Park on Aug. 5, 2014, in San Francisco.

Jay-Z and Beyonce are hustlers, baby, we just want you to know. The power couple has made headlines in the music industry and beyond for nearly two decades and has amassed an unbelievable $2.5 billion. And they spend money like it’s water. From extravagant gift giving to raking in millions touring the world to lavishing their children with incredibly expensive toys, Beyonce and Jay-Z have one fascinating family.

Jay-Z Came from the Projects

Jay-Z Poses — Rapper Jay-Z poses for photographers as he arrives for the 15th annual Soul Train Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 28, 2001.

Born Shawn Carter, Jay-Z was born in the Marcy projects of Brooklyn, N.Y. He grew up listening to Michael Jackson and loved reading, but his early life was rife with tragedy. When he was nine, his father’s brother was stabbed to death, leading Jay’s dad down a path of drug use. When Jay was 11, his father left home. By 13, Jay was dealing crack. Jay’s 16-year-old brother was also a drug addict, and at just 12 years old, Jay shot him in the shoulder for stealing from him.

He Got His Jump Start With “Reasonable Doubt”

Reasonable Doubt Cover — Jay-Z's debut album was his career launch pad.

It didn’t seem like he would one day be worth more than $900 million. But that all changed when Jay-Z’s debut album “Reasonable Doubt” released in 1996. The album was a critical success, and Jay-Z started to climb the ranks of hip-hop, gaining popularity, money and fame while making business moves along the way.

Beyonce’s Career Started Rough

Beyonce Knowles grew up in the Third Ward of Houston. She and her sisters didn’t grow up wealthy, but they did grow up determined. Her mother was a hairdresser and her father was a salesman. Beyonce took to entertaining early and joined the all-girls kids group called Girl’s Tyme at eight years old, but the group didn’t fare well at first.

Beyonce's Dad Stepped In

Mathew Knowles — Beyonce's dad became the manager of Destiny's Child.

After a record deal fell through, Beyonce’s father quit his job to manage the group full-time. This hit the Knowles family pretty hard and effectively halved their income, but it all paid off. By 1997, Girl’s Tyme had morphed into Destiny’s Child, which launched Beyonce’s career.

They Met When Beyonce Was Young

Singer Beyonce Knowles, left, and rapper Jay-Z, right, watch the match between Lindsay Davenport, of the United States, and Kim Clijsters, of Belgium, at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York on Sept. 5, 2003.

Beyonce and Jay first met when Beyonce was 18 (he was around 30 and already a hip-hop star), and they unofficially started dating when she was 19 (around the year 2000). In 2002, Jay-Z’s track “’03 Bonnie & Clyde” featured Beyonce, and in 2003, the music video for Beyonce’s hit “Crazy in Love” featured Jay.

Saying "I Do"

Beyonce's Wedding Pictures — Beyonce and Jay-Z made it official in a secret wedding.

While they dated throughout this time, they didn’t make it official. In April 2008, the two were married in a secret wedding, hosted at Jay-Z’s Manhattan penthouse.

Beyonce Becomes a Mom

Blue Ivy Carter Birth Announcement — Beyonce released this photo to social media when she announced the birth of Blue Ivy Carter.

In 2012, the couple welcomed Blue Ivy Carter into the world. Five years later in 2017, Beyonce gave birth to twin babies Sir Carter and Rumi Carter (and those children are very well taken care of).

Now They Have a Very Expensive Mortgage

Presidentail Inauguration — This Jan. 21, 2013, photo shows recording artists Jay-Z and Beyonce at the Capitol in Washington for President Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony during the 57th Presidential Inauguration.

Sure, they might be worth over a billion dollars, but in some ways, Beyonce and Jay-Z are just like everyone else. For instance, they have a mortgage. In 2017, the couple purchased an $88 million, 30,000-square-foot home in Los Angeles’ trendy Bel Air neighborhood, with the assistance of a $52.8 million mortgage. Their mortgage payment? Well, it’s about $149,000 per month, according to Business Insider.

And Lots of Other Real Estate

In this Dec. 1, 2008, photo, hip-hop singer and entrepreneur Jay-Z and his wife singer-actress Beyonce Knowles attend the premiere of "Cadillac Records" in New York.

While they may have a mortgage for their main home, that’s the exception. The couple also own a $26 million, 12,000-square-foot house in New York's Hamptons and a converted church in New Orleans’ Garden District. They even own an island in the Bahamas, purchased for around $4 million in 2013. They recently sold off a Manhattan penthouse for $9.95 million.

They Have Many, Many Grammys

Beyonce has won 22 Grammy Awards and received 63 nominations, while her husband is in the same boat, with 21 wins and 74 nominations. And even though the Grammy Awards don’t come with cash prizes for the winner, they still make the duo money. According to Forbes, there’s something known as a “Grammy Bounce,” which boosts ticket sales and producer fees by at least 55 percent the year after a win.

They Ride in Style Worth Millions

Jay-Z Car — Jay-Z owns several cars, including a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport.

When the power couple decides to turn heads with headlights, it’s a simple matter of choosing which ride they want to take out of the garage. Here are some of the known cars they own:

• Pagani Zonda F: Worth about $670,000 and owned by Jay-Z, this 7.3-liter V12 can hit top speeds of 214 mph.

• Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport: Beyonce bought her hubby this $2 million car for his 41st birthday. This beast has a top speed of 255 mph and shoots from 0 to 60 in 2.5 seconds.

• A Classic 1959 Rolls Royce Convertible: This is said to have been a gift from Jay-Z to Beyonce on her 32nd birthday.

• Maybach 62S: Owned by Jay-Z, with a base price tag of $500,000.

• Tesla Model S: A comparatively pedestrian car, owned by Jay-Z.

• Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren: This extremely limited-edition $500,000 supercar is rumored to be parked in Beyonce’s part of the garage.

• Jeep Wrangler: Because supercars are terribly inconvenient, this is the couple’s choice when they actually have to do the whole parking-and-driving-around-like-normal-people thing.

They're Crazy in Love with Gift Giving

Beyonce owns a collection of Birkin handbags that's worth $350,000.

And they really like to give gifts. For example, Beyonce gave Jay-Z an absurdly priced $5 million watch from Hublot called the Big Bang, which is made of 1,282 diamonds. In turn, Jay-Z has gifted Queen Bey $350,000 worth of Birkin handbags from the posh Hermes boutique shop. He’s even said to have bought his queen a dragon egg prop from HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” And for her wedding ring, Jay-Z bought her an 18-carat diamond ring worth $5 million.

But that’s nothing compared to this next mega-gift.

Even A Jet for Father’s Day

Jet Gift — The ultimate gift between the couple was a jet gifted to Jay-Z on Father's Day.

When the couple needs to get somewhere even faster than the capability of a supercar, they simply take to the skies. In 2012, Beyonce gifted her husband a Bombardier Challenger 850 for $40 million as a Father’s Day gift. The private jet comes with a kitchen, office, living room, bedroom and two bathrooms.

On the Run With Money in the Bank

During their first “On the Run” tour in 2014, Jay-Z and Beyonce commanded about $5 million per night in sales and sold more than $100 million in tickets — and only had 19 show dates. “On the Run Tour II,” which kicked off in June 2018, is on track to be even more lucrative. This show has 36 stops, so if they still get that $5 million per-night rate, they’re set to make upwards of $200 million.

Famous Fans

Beyonce sings for the Obamas — Beyonce sings, left, as President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama finish their dance at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball in Washington Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009.

They certainly have some high-profile fans, too. Just check out Barack and Michelle Obama dancing during the tour’s stop in Landover, Mich.

Get in Formation

Beyonce performs during the Formation World Tour at MetLife Stadium on Oct. 7, 2016, in East Rutherford, N.J.

With the release of “Lemonade” in 2016, Queen Bey set out on one of her most lucrative years ever. With 2.5 million albums sold, “Lemonade” was the top-selling album of 2016 and earned her $7.5 million in sales, streaming and publishing fees. Her subsequent “Formation World Tour” grossed $256.4 million in ticket sales and netted her $54.7 million, according to Billboard. And with “Lemonade,” she was the first female artist to have 12 songs on the Top 100 charts at the same time.

Jay-Z Owns a Streaming Service

In this Oct. 20, 2015, photo, singer Beyonce arrives at TIDAL X: 1020 Amplified by HTC at the Barclays Center in New York.

In 2015, Jay-Z bought Tidal, a subscription-based streaming music platform, for $56 million. The platform pays out high royalties to artists and offers exclusive or limited licensing deals (for example, Beyonce’s “Lemonade” album was only offered on Tidal for two days after its release). The service might not be as big as Spotify, but was still profitable. In January 2017, Sprint bought a 33 percent stake in the company for a rumored $200 million.

They Threw an Extravagant Birthday Bash for Blue Ivy

When Blue Ivy Carter turned one in 2013, Beyonce and Jay-Z spared no expense for her birthday bash. The couple reportedly spent $80,000 on a diamond-encrusted Barbie, $95,000 in roses, $30,000 on gifts for party attendees and a $2,400 cake.

And They Spend Millions on Their Kids' Accessories

The Knowles-Carter kids are too young to know why they’re being carted around in name-brand strollers and decked out in designer linens, but their mega-rich parents aren’t afraid to spoil them. When Beyonce gave birth to Rumi and Sir last year, the couple went about spending millions on the twin babies.

They’re rumored to have showered them with a pair of gold cribs for $106,000, Chanel clothing, $3,600 Versace strollers and $1,200 Burberry diaper bags. And then there are the pacifiers: reportedly, the couple spent $2.5 million for diamond-encrusted pacifiers by Suommo — a brand that proclaims it offers “the world’s most expensive personalized baby gifts” — as well as a $17,000 pacifier made out of 18-karat white gold with a 3-carat diamond.

Blue Ivy also gets the royal treatment; the six-year old child spent her early years in a $20,000 PoshTots crib and takes rides on a solid gold, $600,000 rocking horse.

Beyonce Owns a Vegan Meal Service

In 2015, Beyonce and her trainer, Marco Borges, teamed up to launch a food delivery/meal planner service called 22 Days Nutrition.

Beyonce is also known for her ultra-fit lifestyle, so she’s learned how to capitalize on that, too. In 2015, she and her trainer, Marco Borges, teamed up to launch a food delivery/meal planner service called 22 Days Nutrition. The site has a subscription-based service, protein powder and nutrition bars for people looking to eat like Beyonce.

And a Clothing Brand

And then there is her athleisure clothing line Ivy Park, a collaborative venture with Phillip Green, a British businessman and owner of the fashion retailer Topshop. Queen Bey also made moves in the drink sector with WTRMLN WTR, a female-founded juice company.

Jay-Z Has His Own Alcohol Label

Jay-Z bought out the champagne brand Armand de Brignac from Sovereign Brands, aka “Ace of Spades."

Jay-Z, much like Beyonce, has also started — or bought — out a few brands of his own, but Jay-Z’s version of mass production is a little odder and a lot more exclusionary. After buying out the champagne brand Armand de Brignac from Sovereign Brands, aka “Ace of Spades,” the brand announced in 2017 that it had created another blend, A2.

Except you probably won’t see it. Reportedly, barely more than 2,000 bottles — at $850 a pop to the consumer — were released in the U.S. Of course, you could also head to Jay-Z’s 40/40 club and drop upwards of $2,000 for a bottle, too.

And His Own Restaurants

Jay-Z is co-owner of the 40/40 Club, a sports bar and incredibly posh nightclub hybrid.

And speaking of 40/40, while most of us might daydream of leaving our service-industry job behind for a rap career, Jay-Z seems to be doing the opposite. He’s co-owner of the 40/40 Club, a sports bar and incredibly posh nightclub hybrid. The New York flagship location once underwent a $10 million renovation with the goal of adding things like “opulence” and “glamour” alongside big-screen TVs tuned to ESPN. Franchise opportunities might be available soon, too. There are already locations in Atlanta, Las Vegas and Atlantic City, N.J.

Rumors have abounded recently that Jay-Z has plans to dive deeper into the swing shifts and non-stick shoes world of restaurants as well (or at least be a co-owner in it), after the rapper trademarked the name “Hovino.”

But if you can’t make it to any of these locations, don’t worry! You can always check out The Carter in Sydney. Yep, someone there opened an eatery themed after the powerhouse couple.

And an Entertainment Empire

Jay-Z seems to have investments everywhere, but his flagship company is what may have made him the most money. Roc Nation is Jay’s full-service entertainment company, which recently signed a 10-year, $200 million deal with entertainment company supergiant Live Nation. There’s also his clothing company, Rocawear, which he formed in 1999 and now generates more than $700 million per year.

All of this started with Roc-A-Fella Records, which he, Damon Dash and Kareem Burke founded in 1995; in 2004, they sold their remaining stake for $10 million to their parent company Def Jam Recordings.

Queen Bey and Jay Also Give Back With Scholarships

Beyonce Performs — Beyonce performs during the Formation World Tour at Marlins Park on April 27, 2016, in Miami.

Despite some pretty pricey shopping sprees, both Beyonce and Jay-Z contribute a lot to different charities. Higher education is a passion project for the couple. At the one-year anniversary of Beyonce’s mega-hit album, ”Lemonade,” she announced a scholarship program for female students studying creative arts, music, literature or African American studies. For the 2018-2019 year, Formation Scholars awarded scholarships to students at Berklee College of Music, Howard University, Parsons School of Design and Spelman College.

Jay-Z’s Shawn Carter Foundation awards scholarships to both high school students and current college enrollees. The foundation looks for students facing socio-economic hardships, and students can attend any school — including trade schools. To date, these students are studying at more than 100 schools.

The Sky's the Limit