GWOP Report: Jay-Z’s Business Commandments

“I’m not a businessman – I’m a Business, man.” –Jay–Z

spotted: Forbes

1. Focus on the most realistic chance to make the most money at all times.

Jay-Z has amassed a fortune of $450 million by living this philosophy, from dealing drugs as an adolescent to selling records, clothes, liquor and more as an adult.

2. Attach yourself to other successful brands.

One of Jay-Z’s best-known boasts is that he “made the Yankee cap more famous than a Yankee can.” Whether or not you agree with that statement, Jay-Z has certainly added to his victorious aura by associating himself with the Yankees, Michael Jordan, Warren Buffett and others.

3. Keep business and pleasure separate.

Jay-Z rarely speaks about his wife Beyonce and they’re far from being tabloid regulars like other celebrity couples.

“Gun’s I Bust em/ Problems with my Wife Don’t Discuss em/ Coupes & Lier Jets I Lust them”   -Biggie Smalls “Get Money (remix)”

4. Don’t give free advertising to other brands unless there’s a good reason.

In the late 1990s Jay-Z mentioned Iceberg clothing in a few of his songs and sales spiked. When he tried to parlay that into an endorsement deal, the company declined–so Jay-Z started his own, and called it Rocawear. Since then, he’s been paid to endorse GM, Hewlett-Packard, Budweiser and others, and the only free advertising via references in his songs is for brands like Maybach.

5. Never publicize anything less than a victory.

Jay-Z doesn’t talk much about his deals that fell apart or his products that flopped–his Armadale vodka and the Las Vegas location of his 40/40 Club. As a result, he’s able to maintain a victorious image.

(For an in-depth look at Jay-Z’s business sense, check out the book Empire State of Mind.)