Yet, it is a room and community of people who have been historically terrible at preserving wealth and legacy for multiple generations. To outsmart the street corners of Bed Stuy and graduate to a ballroom of billionaires is a rare, if not seemingly impossible, feat. Jay-Z is an extraordinary success story, no question about it. Instead, Jay-Z’s family members need to be responsibly brought into the process he establishes (again, if that is his intent). Simply giving family members an individual share of the family fortune ends that process and forces each family member to then restart it with their individual share. Jay-Z is in a position to start that process for his family and ensure it is properly effectuated. Wealth and legacy succession is an ongoing, essentially never-ending, process. The problem is that families and their advisors fail to properly implement that structure and plan. Most wealthy families have a legal structure and plan, an I am sure Jay-Z does too. The reason that wealth is so often made and lost over two or three generations is not because individuals like Jay-Z do not have a Will or trusts in place, and it is certainly not because of estate taxes. However, that is a very different concept than simply giving family members an individual share of his fortune. It sounds like that is his actual intention, as he raps: “legacy, legacy, legacy black excellency, baby, let ‘em see.” He is talking about his family achieving excellency and, perhaps, providing them with the opportunity to do so. That is generational opportunity, and perhaps the greatest gift of all-empowering future generations with the opportunity to find and achieve their purpose. If at least a part of Jay-Z’s why is to use some of his fortune to help his family achieve their individual goals and dreams, he can do that too. Carter himself, then we can discuss how best to carry that purpose-his legacy-forward after his death. He is “rags to riches.” The most important question, however, is not who or what is Jay-Z but why is Jay-Z? What is Jay-Z’s purpose? Once that is determined, and it is a question for Mr. He is an extraordinary story of survival and perseverance. He is a business mogul with myriad business interests. He is an artist and performer with legions of fans. Once that is determined, he can begin to put a structure in place to preserve that purpose and carry it forward.
Rather than merely spreading his wealth across generations, Jay-Z should be focused on the purpose of his wealth and legacy. It is a sad and complicated statistic, but it comes back to one simple concept: purpose. Let me say that again: there is a 90% change that Jay-Z’s “wealth” will be gone by the time Blue Ivy’s kids are adults. Sure, it is an impressive feat that you made a billion dollars, but even more impressive is how likely that billion dollars will all be gone by the time your grandchildren are adults-the likelihood is about 90%.
So, making a billion dollars and simply spreading it across your family is not a good idea. That is, money’s worth is defined by how it is used. Let’s start with a simple premise: the value of money is how it is applied. Specifically, providing future generations with the opportunity to identify and achieve their purpose. What is more important is generational opportunity. That said, and with all do respect, Jay-Z is wrong: generational wealth is not the key. He is writing about who and where he currently is. He is true to who he is-now a husband, father and business mogul, Jay-Z is no longer pretending to be hanging out on the corner, hustling. I also feel Jay-Z’s authenticity as an artist. In the song “Legacy,” Jay-Z raps about taking “those moneys and spread ‘cross families.” He declares: “Generational wealth, that’s the key.” Let me start by saying, I am a Jay-Z fan, and I am particularly impressed with his awareness of the issue of generational wealth and his comfort with rapping about it (while making and spending money may be common hip-hop themes, wealth preservation certainly is not). 1 at Citi Field on Septemin New York City. NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 15: JAY-Z performs onstage during the Meadows Music and Arts Festival - Day.