Richest hip hop artists 2013

These are the richest hip hop artists. They are the highest earning rappers according to Forbes 2013. Forbes is a top American bi-weekly magazine which is well-known for its various lists, including its lists of the richest Americans, highest paid stars, richest hip hop celebrities and the world’s richest. This year, Forbes released its famous list of richest hip hop artists of 2013, and here are the big guns.

Topping the list of richest hip hop artists of 2013 is Sean “Diddy” Combs and he could be on his way to becoming hip-hop’s first billionaire. His net worth is $580 million. This marks his second time bagging the number one position after topping the list in 2012 as well. Beyond his music career, the bulk of the Bad Boy Records founder’s wealth comes a great deal of branding and merchandising. One of his recent whooping deals includes the Ciroc Vodka; a booze brand that Forbes describes is yielding “eight-figure annual payouts.”

The second richest hip hop rapper is Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter who has a net worth of $475 million. The husband of Beyonce is rolling in cash due to big deals like his $204 million Rocawear sale in 2007 and his $150 million pact with Live Nation in 2008.The rapper also has big endorsement deals with Duracell, Budweiser and Bacardi’s D’ussé Cognac.

Andre “Dr. Dre” Young is in the third position with a net worth of $350 million, and all the credit goes mostly to his Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. It is found that Beats by Dre shares have gone up 65 percent since Dre bought back half his company from HTC. His earnings also come from Aftermath Entertainment, where he is also the CEO.

Fourth on the Forbes list of richest hip hop stars is rapper Bryan “Birdman” Williams who has a net worth of $150 million. The rapper earns a huge chunk of his earnings from Cash Money Records. Birdman is also famous for successfully launching careers of stars like Lil Wayne, Drake and Nicki Minaj.

50 Cent is ranked fifth on the Forbes list, with a net worth of $125 million. The bulk of his earnings come from sales of his music, merchandise, video games and books. 50 Cent is currently working hard pursuing new ventures such as headphones brand, SMS Audio, and his own energy drink, SK Energy.

Apart from music, the above celebrities have their own clothing lines, headphones and bottled water. Diversified business ventures made them richer, and put them on the list of top richest hip hop artists.