Jay-Deal
March 07, 2021

Why did Square buy Tidal?

"If Square wants to create new ways to help musicians sell real goods and digital goods, it could just do that. Instead, Square is paying $300 million for a failed music service that doesn’t help it accomplish any of those goals" - Vox argues in an analysis of Square-Tidal deal which saw Jack Dorsey paying Jay-Z $300 million for his service. "So, what you’re really left with here is a deal that looks like a way for Jack Dorsey to move money from his publicly traded company to a company owned by a guy he likes to hang out with" - Vox concludes. Variety did the math on 16 artist stakeholders of Tidal - Jay Z, Beyonce, Kanye West (pictured above), Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Jason Aldean, Madonna, Jack White, Arcade Fire’s Win Butler & Régine Chassagne, Usher, Nicki Minaj, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Calvin Harris, deadmau5, J. Cole and Daft Punk - who should expect to pocket $8.91 million apiece from this deal.

Jack Dorsey's digital-payments processor Square is buying a majority stake in Tidal, Jay-Z's music streaming platform, for $297 million, through a mix of cash and stock, The New York Times reports. The move is set to bring Jay-Z to Square's board of directors. Jay-Z bought Tidal in 2015 for $56 million.

Rapper-entrepreneur Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, have joined to form a new Bitcoin fund, focused on developing the cryptocurrency’s adoption initially in Africa and India, CNet reports. The duo are investing 500 Bitcoin, worth about $24 million, in the project, according to Dorsey, with the mission of making Bitcoin “the internet’s currency".

Well, that's quite a big umbrella she's got
June 20, 2020

Rihanna and Twitter boss donate $15 million toward mental health services

Rihanna's nonprofit The Clara Lionel Foundation has partnered with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to donate $15 million (£12 million) towards mental health services amid the ongoing social unrest and the coronavirus pandemic, People. It's the latest in a series of donations from the pop superstar and tech leader, with Rihanna's foundation alone donating more than $36 million towards coronavirus relief to date.

Beyoncé has teamed up with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s relief fund #startsmall to make a donation of $6m for mental health and other initiatives during the coronavirus outbreak, Yahoo! Lifestyle reports. Beyoncé said mental burdens were accelerating for people who can’t access basic necessities during the crisis. She also gave support to a range of charities providing those necessities, including food, water, cleaning supplies, medicines, face masks and personal hygiene items.

Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation has donated $2,1 million to help victims of domestic violence in Los Angeles during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order. It's a joint donation with Twitter/Square CEO Jack Dorsey who has also committed $2.1 million to the fund ($4.2 million when put together). According to Vulture, an estimated 90 people per week have been turned away from full shelters since the stay-at-home order went into effect last month. The joint grant is expected to cover 90 domestic violence victims per week through 10 weeks.