Who

The hip hop mogul who co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records and Rocawear and presided over a set of lifestyle brands ranging from sneakers to vodka, Dash has had as many business as he has pairs of shoes. His wife is Rachel Roy.

Backstory

Dash grew up in Harlem, where his father operated a methadone clinic and his mother was a "hustler" who sold clothes out of her apartment. After getting his GED, Dash started party-promoting and managed a few unknown hip-hop acts. His career really took off, though, after he met Jay-Z in 1994: With Jay and silent partner Kareem "Biggs" Burke, Dash founded Roc-A-Fella Records and the apparel company Rocawear, landing on the musical map in 1996 with Jay's seminal album Reasonable Doubt. Dash went on to produce a series of hit rap records for artists like Cam'ron, Kanye West, and Beanie Sigel at Roc-A-Fella. He left the company in 2004 after Def Jam, which had purchased a 50 percent stake in Roc-A-Fella for $1.5 million in 1997, acquired the remaining 50 percent for $10 million, and hired Jay-Z as president of the label. (Jay stepped down in 2007.) Following a falling out between the partners, Dash later sold his stake in Rocawear to Jay-Z, who in turn flipped it for more than $200 million in 2006.

Of note

Dash continues to produce music through his Dame Dash Music Group, although he doesn't have the A-list roster he once had with Roc-A-Fella. (One of his bigger artists is the Jamaican dancehall artist Sizzla; Dash was set to launch the solo career of Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 2004, but the effort was scuttled several months later.) In recent years, Dash has turned to film—he produced The Woodsman, starring Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon, for example. He's also branched out into various other businesses. He took a major stake in a Swiss watch maker (Tiret), launched a vodka brand (Armadale), invested in a sneaker company (Pro-Keds), started a boxing talent agency called Dash/DiBella Boxing, and published a short-lived lifestyle magazine called America Magazine. He's also pumped his cash into a handful of restaurants and clubs, including Noel Ashman's Plumm.

Keeping score

Dash netted between $10-$20 million for selling his stake in Rocawear; he estimates his net worth in the $50 million range. Worth just one-tenth of his former partner, poor Dame has bemoaned the fact that when he visits St. Tropez, he feels poor since he isn't in the position to buy a $30 million yacht.

Drama

Dash's split with Jay-Z in 2004 wasn't pretty, though they say they've reconciled. Still, Cam'ron recorded a song about Jay-Z's "betrayal": "First, you stole Roc-A-Fella from Dame / Second, you stole Kanye from Dame / Third, you stole Rocawear from Dame / It was Rocawear when Dame had it / Now you got it, call it Cock-A-Wear."

In person

In a display of either germophobia or extreme prissiness, Dash disposes of all undershirts and socks after each use. He donates the clothes to charity, saying, "That way, somebody gets to own basically new stuff and I get to be fly." He claims to never wear the same pair of sneakers twice either, but he doesn't give all his footwear away: His shoe closet reportedly contains some 1,300 pairs. He's just as exacting about tonsorial maintenance—he says he gets a haircut every other day. He keeps his weight down (and keep his blood sugar in check—he's diabetic) thanks to a full-time personal chef.

Personal

Dash dated a string of famous women over the years, including the late R&B singer Aaliyah. These days he's married to designer Rachel Roy, who used to work at Rocawear. (Roy's clothing line is now backed by Dash.) Dash and Roy have two daughters, Ava and Tallulah. He has two other kids (Lucky and Boogie) with two other women. The Dashes live in a two-floor, 5,142-square-foot duplex inside the Atalanta Building; their previous pad, a 2,888-square foot Tribeca loft, was put up for rent for $18,000 a month in 2006. They also own a Mediterranean-style manse in Beverly Hills.

Toys

Dash gets around town in a 2005 Côte d'Azur-blue Maybach 62 with cream-on-cream perforated-leather interior, a panoramic glass roof, a 543-horsepower engine, and fully reclining passenger seats. Retail price: $400,000.