Whenever Beyoncé gets trending, we know that big things are happening.
In this case, Mrs. Knowles-Carter is currently enjoying a musical “Renaissance” as she slowly releases information on her much-anticipated new album. Queen Bey’s devoted fans, the BeyHive, have been getting a special treat on Twitter when they’ve been seeing a unique emoji on the social media platform that’s generated any time someone tweets out something with the hashtag #BeyHive.
That’s right — the hashtag generates a Queen Bee emoji! (Get it?)
But more than just the anticipated music, Beyoncé has given her devoted fans millions of reasons to love her. One doesn’t become a world icon by accident, and one certainly doesn’t generate wealth without making more than a few smart investments along the way. So smart are her investments, in fact, that Bloomberg called the “Homecoming” singer “recession-proof” back in May 2022.
From Uber stock that paid off big time to smart investments in thriving Black-owned businesses, let’s take a look at the many ways that you, too, can invest like Beyoncé.
Editorial note: AfroTech makes no representation about the stock, bond, or mutual fund information provided herein, and neither is the information meant to be construed as financial advice. Consult with a licensed financial professional before investing your money.
Uber Stock
Inside Edition reported that Beyoncé — along with Leonardo DiCaprio, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashton Kutcher, and Beyoncé’s husband Jay-Z — were all early investors in Uber stock.
In fact, in Beyoncé’s case, she got paid in Uber stock — $6 million worth — to perform at a corporate event for the ride-share company back in 2015.
At the time, according to Refinery29, Queen Bey wanted equity in the company over the cash she’d earn in a private performance. So, when Uber went public on the NYSE in 2019 (with a more than $8 billion valuation), her money got longer.
Beyoncé performed for Uber in 2015 and instead of accepting her $6m pay cheque, she requested to be paid in stocks, today it’s worth over $300m. Last year she took half of the $8m from coachella in exchange for the rights to the show, Netflix paid her $60m for it. Her acumen >>> https://t.co/k4un1FM1Ka
— Kelvin Lee Jones (@KelvinLeeJones1) May 14, 2019
While it was initially estimated that Beyoncé received a $300 million windfall from the deal, Uber’s market cap of $67 million and the dilution of the shares probably reportedly netted her an estimated $9 million payday.
Business Investments
AfroTech has previously reported on the vast sundry of Beyoncé’s business investments.
She was a “significant investor” in the $31 million Series A investment of Lemon Perfect, and part of the seed investment round in WTRMLN WTR. Beyoncé also joined Rihanna in investing in the French ready-to-wear brand, Destree. And her first-ever investment was in Sidestep, a company that specializes in merch for the music and entertainment industry.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is the SEO Manager at Blavity, Inc. She is also a NYC-based editor, writer, photographer, and publicist with a career spanning more than two decades in the entertainment industry. Her work has been featured in People, Teen Vogue, BET, HipHopDX, XXL Magazine, The Source, Vibe, The Los Angeles Times, and more. Giacomazzo is also the author of The Uprising Series and is the CEO of G-Force Marketing & Publicity, which has been featured in The Hollywood Reporter and has obtained film, television, radio, and print placements for blue-chip clients all over the world. She will release "In Living Color: A Cultural History" on Rowman & Littlefield Press in February 2023, and "The Golden Girls: A Cultural History" on Rowman & Littlefield Press in August 2023.
