Who

Shawn Carter is an indefatigable entrepreneur, restaurateur/club owner, part-owner of the Nets, and, of course, one of the biggest-selling rappers in hip-hop history. His wife is Beyoncé, but you probably already knew that.

Backstory

Jay-Z (or Jazzy as he was known back then) was raised in the Marcy housing projects in Bed-Stuy. In the time-honored tradition of aspiring rappers, Jay took up crack dealing as a teenager, the spoils of which helped finance his music label, Roc-a-Fella Records, which he founded with Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in 1994. Jay-Z's debut album Reasonable Doubt earned him his first break and scored him a label deal with Def Jam; he followed up a year later with the Diddy-produced In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. It was in 1998 that mainstream fame arrived with the release of Hard Knock Life—the title track from the record was a No. 1 hit—and he issued five more albums in as many years, including 2001's The Blueprint, which made Kanye West famous. But in 2003, he surprised his fans when he announced his "retirement," holding a blowout concert that featured performances by The Roots, Missy Elliott, and Mary J. Blige. Those who suspected the rapper was bluffing were correct: Jay issued his "comeback" album, Kingdom Come, in 2006 and his tenth album, American Gangster, debuted in late 2007.

Of note

Music has hardly been the only item on Jay's agenda over the past few years: He's long had a handful of lucrative businesses under his control. He continues to serve as chief creative officer of Rocawear, the clothing label he founded in 1999 with his Roc-a-Fella partners, which was sold to Neil Cole's Iconix in March of 2007 for $204 million. He also holds a stake in Armadale vodka, which he acquired in 2002 with Dash and Biggs. Then there's Jay's sports bar chain, 40/40, which is now sprouting up in other cities, and he's also an investor in Ken Friedman's West Village eatery The Spotted Pig as well as the Bruce Ratner-controlled New Jersey Nets. He also makes a pretty penny lending his name to various products. He has a line of sneakers with Reebok called "S. Carter" and has signed endorsement deals over the years with companies like General Motors, Budweiser, and Hewlett-Packard. In 2007, along with three property developer partners, he set up a real estate company, J Hotels, through which he's currently building a boutique hotel in Chelsea.

Jay fashioned himself into a record exec in 2004 when he accepted an offer from Def Jam chairman L.A. Reid to join the label as president. (As part of the job, he sold his stake in Roc-a-Fella to Def Jam in a deal worth $10 million.) The gig brought some respectability and a comfy salary and Jay was involved in picking some new acts like Lady Sovereign and Amy Winehouse, but in December 2007, he stepped down. He soon signed a deal with the concert giant Live Nation worth an unprecedented $150 million. As part of the pact, the two sides will establish a new label as well as set up a touring and merchandising operation.

Keeping score

According to Forbes, Jay had a net worth of $400 million, earning $83 million over the course of 2007.

Legal file

Jay pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in connection with the stabbing of record producer Lance "Un" Rivera at the Kit Kat club in December 1999. Repped by hip hop legal eagle Benjamin Brafman, Jay earned three years of probation as part of the plea. In April 2001, he was arrested on gun charges. The case was later dismissed.

Personal

Jay and Beyoncé have been together since 2002, the year they teamed up for the song "Bonnie and Clyde." After several false alarms, Jay officially proposed in June 2007 and the couple wed in Manhattan in April '08. Prior to landing the triple threat, Jay dated actress Rosario Dawson and (possibly) Karrine Steffans, the author of Confessions of a Video Vixen.

Habitat

In 2004, Jay-Z purchased a $6.85 million Tribeca penthouse from ad exec Peter Arnell. When renovations ended up taking years to complete, he rented a $65,000-a-month, 14-room condo at Trump World Tower directly above Derek Jeter. Now that he's a married man, it's been rumored that he's planning to move to Scarsdale with his new bride.

Toys

You'll find Jay reclining in the backseat of a $400,000 Maybach 57S, one of the very few that roam NYC. (Damon Dash has one, too.) He likes to give expensive cars, too: For her 25th birthday in 2006, Beyoncé got a 1959 Rolls Royce worth $1 million. He makes weekend trips to Miami aboard his Learjet 60, which seats eight people.

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