Any hip-hop fan worth their salt is likely familiar with Nas’s music. The Queens native, born Nasir Jones, has been in the rap game for decades — producing timeless hits and selling millions of records.
From his debut album, Illmatic, touted one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time, to his most recent (and Grammy award-winning) King’s Disease released just last year, someone with his track record obviously knows a thing or two about how to make it in the hip-hop world.
However, while he’s obviously famous for his music, what people might not know about Nas is that he’s also somewhat of a genius in the field of investing. The millionaire mogul was reported as saying he became interested in investing as far back as his high school days, and he’s brought that dream to life in a big way over the last decade.
What is Nas Tech Investments?
Get to know about Nas Tech Investments. From starting his own investment firm in 2014 to investing in billion-dollar companies, Nas has proven he knows his way around more than just the music industry.
In 2014, Nas and his co-founders established Queensbridge Venture Partners. Named for Nas’s childhood neighborhood, QVP invests in and helps raise funds for early-stage technology companies.
They “invest in companies that create products designed to harness the power of technology to enhance productivity, efficiency, and connectivity.” Their typical investment in a startup is between $100,000 and $500,000, and they’ve made over 100 investments to date.
Some of those investments have proven very successful. A few of them are listed here:
Ring
By now, everyone knows about Ring — the doorbell cameras that show their users who’s at the door through an app — but it took serious determination to finally bring the product to life. Before Ring found its footing, founder Jamie Siminoff was turned down by multiple investors and rejected the only offer he received while appearing on Shark Tank.
Just when it seemed like no one shared his vision, Nas, through QVP, was one of the first investors to believe in the product and agreed to join forces with the startup. Possibly due to good luck but more likely due to keen business sense, this investment is now paying off big time.
How big? In 2018, Ring was purchased by Amazon to the tune of $1.1 billion. For Nas, this meant a payout of around $40 million, just one of many smart investments made by the rapper/investment genius.
Coinbase
In yet another genius move, Nas decided it would be wise to invest in Coinbase (a now well-known cryptocurrency platform) way back before cryptocurrency was considered normal as the cash in people’s wallets.
As an early investor in yet another promising startup, QVP contributed an investment of between $100,000 and $500,000 (their typical investment amount). Coinbase is currently valued at over $100 billion. Again, Nas’s stake in this company is nothing to scoff at: a sizable sum of at least $40 million.
With the use of cryptocurrency only on the rise, it’s more than possible that number will only get higher as time goes on. Seems like a pattern might be emerging here?
Pill Pack
Pill Pack, a door-to-door prescription delivery service, is another of Nas’s early investments. Back in 2014 when Queensbridge Venture Partners were just getting started, the firm invested in PillPack and helped to raise $8.8 million in startup funds.
In 2018, despite being pursued by other well-known pharmacies such as Walgreens, CVS and Walmart, PillPack chose Amazon as their buyer. This transaction was worth $1 billion, leaving co-founders T.J Parker and Eliot Cohen to walk away with $100 million each.
The payout for Nas hasn’t been made public for this deal but considering the similarities of the other sales listed here, it was more than likely substantial. Now that PillPack belongs to Amazon it will likely continue to grow, which of course means the investor’s payouts will follow the same trend.
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is an app that allows its users to trade stocks without the usual associated commission fees. Their aim is to make stock trading available to a more diverse group of people, while in the past it’s been geared toward only those with access to more disposable funds.
Along with Nas and QVP, fellow rappers Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z, and actor Jared Leto have also invested in Robinhood, likely due to its inclusive nature. The recent rise in trading popularity makes this app a smart business decision for all its investors. They’re also contributing to a good cause by helping to make trading more widely available.
As of 2020, Robinhood’s net worth was around $11 billion — yet another investment that will likely payout on a grand scale when the time comes. Not only that, but its investors can feel good about helping others get ahead financially.
These are just a few of the investments Nas had made over the last several years; the list goes on much further from here. Thanks to his contributions to companies like Lyft, Dropbox and LANDR, his investments are paying off whichever way he looks.
Along with his investments, Nas also owns a chain of restaurants called Sweet Chick throughout New York and is part owner of record label and digital media company Mass Appeal.
It goes without saying that this man has learned the lesson of not putting all his eggs in one basket, and it’s paying off big time.
It’s becoming more and more popular for people to invest in their futures, from the average working family to the rich and famous alike. The average person might think that selling millions of records would be a satisfactory accomplishment, and while it surely is, Nas has even higher ambitions than his music.
While the rapper continues to produce hits and will probably do so for quite some time, his strategy for branching out has proven incredibly successful thus far. His intention of helping others succeed drives his motivation in a big way, and investing is one way he’s able to do just that.