Investing In Coinbase, Robinhood Early: Is Nas The Best Rapper Turned Investor?

Nas sold over 15 million records in the U.S. during his professional career as a rapper and songwriter. The rapper may go down in history as one of the greatest singers/rappers turned investors of all time.

What Happened: An early investment in 2013 into the now-defunct brand Mass Appeal didn’t turn into financial success for Nas but it set the table for what was to come.

The Mass Appeal investment led to Nas meeting Andreesen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz who bonded with him over a love of hip-hop and investing. Horowitz encouraged Nas to launch his own venture capital firm.

Nas launched QueensBridge Venture Partners as a result.

“You invest your time, you can invest money and it was just a matter of time before it all fell into place for me. That’s one of the things I thought a lot about as a young kid — the guys behind the scenes who make things happen, help build people up, make dreams come true,” Nas told Fast Company in an interview.

Related Link: Here's How Much Coinbase Early Investors Made From The Largest Direct Listing In History 

Investments: Nas has a net worth of $70 million according to Celebrity Net Worth, but that figure could continue to rise if Nas’s investments continue to go public or get bought out.

Nas was an investor in Dropbox Inc DBX, Casper Sleep Inc CSPR and Lyft Inc LYFT.

Nas is also an investor in privately held SeatGeek.

PillPack and Ring, two investments made by Nas, were acquired by Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN. The two acquisitions earned more than $40 million for the venture capital fund. Another investment PlutoTV was acquired by ViacomCBS Inc VIAC.

Earlier this year, Nas made headlines when Coinbase Global Inc COIN went public. Nas was an investor in the company in 2013 when it was valued at $143 million in a Series B round. Nas’s investment is worth between $35 million and $100 million depending on the original investment size.

Nas’s VC invests between $100,000 and $500,000 in each company according to reports.

Robinhood Investment: In 2013, Nas and Snoop Dogg invested in Robinhood Markets Inc HOOD, a new financial services company featuring commission-free trading to disrupt the market.

At the time of the investment, Robinhood was valued at $62 million. Robinhood was valued at $32 billion Thursday at the time of its initial price offering.

The Robinhood IPO is another example of Nas having a keen eye for investments that could pay off in the long run. Nas could be the greatest rapper alive for his investments.

Price Action: HOOD shares are down 8.37% to $34.82 on Thursday.

Photo: YouTube still from Nas video