We all know Beyoncé is brilliant, but this move she made in 2015 may be the absolute ultimate in future planning. Four years ago, Beyoncé was offered $6 million to perform for a corporate Uber event in Las Vegas. Instead of cold hard cash, Queen Bey asked for payment in equity — and now that $6 million has turned into as much more.
In case you missed it, Uber went public on the New York Stock Exchange last Friday. With an $8.1 billion IPO (Initial Public Offering), the shares initially went for $45 each — marking one of the biggest tech IPOs in recent history. And Beyoncé isn't the only celebrity who got in before the general public got their hands on the tech giant's stock. Early investors include such celebrities as Ashton Kutcher (who invested all the way back in 2011), Gwyneth Paltrow, Bey's husband Jay-Z, Olivia Munn, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
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This isn't the first time Beyoncé has thought ahead. She may have only made roughly $4 million from her Coachella performance, but she also inked a $60 million Netflix deal, which included Homecoming, a documentary of that very performance. We see you getting two birds with one stone, Beyoncé, and we appreciate your savvy!
The "Hold Up" singer has proven time and again she's ahead of the curve, but today we're extra proud of her, because she's reminded us of the importance of equity, even for us plebes in the Beyhive. It's no secret that start up culture often leads to low salaries, long hours, and little payoff, so in your next salary negotiation, don't be afraid to channel your inner Beyoncé and ask for equity (but not just equity! You deserve dollars, too!). You never know, that little 1% of the company may just turn into millions. Here's to hoping!
Beyoncé performed for Uber in 2015 and instead of accepting her $6m pay cheque, she requested to be paid in stocks, today it’s worth over $300m. Last year she took half of the $8m from coachella in exchange for the rights to the show, Netflix paid her $60m for it. Her acumen >>> https://t.co/k4un1FM1Ka
— Kelvin Lee Jones (@KelvinLeeJones1) May 14, 2019
Edit (5/15/2019): According to Celebrity Net Worth, due to Uber's current market cap of $67 billion and likely dilution of shares since 2015, Beyoncé's Uber stock is most likely worth about $9 million.
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