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Shawn Corey Carter, who we all know as Jay-Z, is one half of the richest celebrity couple out there. With a combined net worth of $1.5 billion, it's no surprise that Jay-Z has enough cash to buy himself, and his family, plenty of expensive things. Not only has he amassed a fortune thanks to his successful music career but he is an accomplished entrepreneur and businessman.

Much of Jay-Z's wealth has accumulated from Roc Nation, the entertainment firm he founded in 2008. He also produces records for other artists and even co-owns the streaming company, Tidal. Here are some of the most expensive things Jay-Z has ever bought.

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10. Trump Towers Apartment

Jay-Z once owned an apartment in one of the most luxurious buildings in the world. His residence in Trump Tower had five bedrooms and five bathrooms. It cost him around $65,000 a month to rent. The apartment also featured a gourmet kitchen and quarters for both a maid and private staff.

Altogether, the apartment has fourteen rooms. In addition to owning a home in the Tower, he also had full access to the building's spa, gym, wine cellar, and health club membership. Derek Jeter was one of many wealthy next-door neighbors at the time. He has since sold this apartment and no longer calls it home.

9. East Hampton House

Jay-Z spent $26 million on a mansion in East Hampton as a place to raise his kids with his wife, Beyonce. The estate stretches across 12,000 square feet and features seven bedrooms and seven and a half bathrooms. It also has direct water access to the Georgica Pond and boasts a 17-acre meadow preserve alongside it.

The entire house is elevated and specially constructed to overlook the water. If you're lucky enough to be a guest at the Carters' home, you might even stay in their 1,800 square foot guest house. The guest house includes two bedrooms, a complete kitchen, and a bathroom.

8. Art Collection

Jay-Z may be known for his rap music but did you know he also has a side that enjoys fine art? He is an avid art collector. Forbes estimates his entire collection comes in at $70 million. Of his many paintings one of the most notable is Jean-Michel Basquiat's “Mecca,” reportedly purchased for $4.5 million.

He also owns paintings by Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Shepard Fairey, and even, supposedly, Pablo Picasso. Jay-Z is incredibly proud of his collection too. He has included lyrics referencing his art in more than one song but the most notable example is in the song "Picasso Baby."

7. Bel Air Compound

The Carters are in no shortage of places to live. Jay-Z purchased a compound in Bel Air for an estimated $88 million. To be fair, Beyonce's lucrative salary probably helped foot the bill for this place, but even if they split it, Jay-Z still paid an incredible chunk of change for this 30,000 square foot home.

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This ultra-modern, sleek compound comes with 11 bathrooms and 8 bedrooms. The house was designed by architect Paul Mclean and is hidden away behind massive iron gates. Outdoors is another 10,000 square feet housing four swimming pools, a full basketball court, and a 15-car garage.

7. Private Island

Most people's idea of a lucrative gift is a gift card in the triple digits. That's not quite the case when it comes to Jay-Z. He would rather lavish his wife with something more extravagant, like a private island. That's exactly what he did for Beyonce's 29th birthday.

He spent $20 million on 2.5 acres a few miles off the coast of Florida. What's crazy about that is he spent less on the island than both of his mansions. When you're as famous as the Carters are it makes sense they'd want their own paradise to get away from prying eyes and he has the money to do just that.

6. Car Collection

Both Jay-Z and Beyonce have amassed multi-million dollar car collections. They've even been known to gift each other with pricey vehicles for birthday presents. But Jay-Z appears to be a bigger aficionado than his wife. Of the many cars in his collection, some of the more luxurious ones include multiple Rolls Royces, a Tesla Model S, a Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet, a Bugatti, and a Mercedes SLR.

It makes sense now why they need so many giant garages to house all of these cars. He also owns a Pagani Zonda F, which is actually one of the rarest cars known to man and therefore the most expensive one in his collection.

5. Tidal

By now it is common knowledge that Jay-Z purchased the streaming service known as Tidal. It's similar to other subscription music services like Apple Music and Spotify. But in order to ownership over Tidal, he actually had to buy the original Swedish company that owned it. He purchased the company, Aspiro, for $56 million.

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When speaking to Billboard about why he decided to make the risky purchase he said, "we need something that’s authentic and honest. That made it pretty attractive pretty quickly, that the sound quality was so high, and I would know because I’ve personally heard 70 mixes of a single record."

4. Barclays Center Nursery

Jay-Z's daughter, Blue Ivy, is no stranger to the extravagances of living in the world of the rich and famous. From thousand-dollar toys to private vacations with her parents to Evian water baths, she has been living in the lap of luxury since birth. It even extends to the moments she needs to be babysat.

As a frequent visitor to the Barclays Center to watch sports games, Jay-Z decided to rent out a top-notch nursery on the lower-level exclusively for his daughter. He pays $1 million a year to keep the room. It is supposedly filled to the brim with toys to keep her busy while her parents watch basketball.

3. Solid Gold Rocking Horse

Speaking of gifts for their children, Jay-Z truly spares no expense when it comes to the women in his life. He purchased a solid gold rocking horse for Blue Ivy as a birthday gift. The horse cost him $600,000 and was made by Japanese jeweler Ginza Tanaka.

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It's hard to imagine letting your child actually play on something that valuable so it seems it was more of a decorative gift rather than an actual toy for Blue to play with. Jay-Z and Beyonce also spent an estimated $1.5 million on designing her nursery so the golden rocking horse is merely a drop in the bucket compared to the rest.

2. Watch Collection

A man as busy has Jay-Z needs a watch to keep up with his crazy life of business appointments, meetings, concerts, and of course, family time. He spends a pretty penny on acquiring fine watches. One of his most expensive pieces was actually gifted to him by his wife, the Hublot Big Bang watch encrusted with diamonds that cost $5 million. But he has spent plenty of his own money on them too.

He owns one of the most popular watch brands in the world, the Rolex. According to Watch and Bullion, he owns several Rolexes but perhaps the most notable is his Rolex Perpetual Calendar since it was custom-made and cost him thousands. Other watches in his collection include the Swiss brand Audemars Piguet, the Shawn Carter Hublot, and the Richard Mille R 027.

1. Beyonce's Engagement Ring

Beyonce and Jay-Z are easily one of the most famous celebrity couples of all time. Jay-Z spared no expense to ensure Queen Bey would become his wife. It is rumored that the engagement ring he bought to pop the question cost him $5 million.

The ring was designed by Bey's favored jeweler, Lorraine Schwartz. It is an 18-carat flawless emerald-cut diamond with a simple spit shank. Given the couple has been together for more than ten years now and have multiple children between them, it looks like the ring choice must have been the right one.

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