21 Jan Jay-Z Launches $10M Fund For Minority-Owned Cannabis Businesses

Source: Robert Kamau / Getty

The cannabis industry has most certainly boomed over the past few years, with some projections saying the field could see earnings top $130 billion by 2024 according to some insiders. Jay-Z, seeing the vast potential after launching Monogram, has launched a fund that will put financial muscle behind minority-owned cannabis businesses as he too has dipped his toes into that pool.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, has launched a $10 million fund in order to support Black and minority cannabis businesses and to attract other interested minds to that space as well. The so-called “green rush” has emerged as a popular business model for investors across the nation but very few of the cannabis companies, including entry into the wide-open medical marijuana space, are helmed by Black people.

“It’s really unbelievable how that can happen,” Jay-Z shared with WSJ. “We were the ones most negatively affected by the war on drugs, and America has turned around and created a business from it that’s worth billions.”

The article notes that for the past 25 years after California shifted the stigma of cannabis by legalizing medical marijuana, the evidence of growth has skyrocketed into the billions on the legal side of things.

Jay-Z’s cannabis business fund is both timely and necessary as there are several experts who feel that there are barriers for Black and minority business owners to find their footing in an industry replete with bylaws, regulations, taxes, and more. In fact, some have said that for states to engage in the recreational use of marijuana and cannabis products, there are tougher hurdles, most especially if one is a person of color.

With Monogram, Hov himself is now a major player in the cannabis game. Given his excellent nose for business and his past investment payoffs, it appears Jay-Z is ahead of the market once again.

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Photo: Getty