Jay-Z sells the majority of his music streaming services company Tidal to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for a whopping $297 million. Tidal will be acquired by Jack Dorsey’s digital payment company Square Inc., giving him the majority stake in the Tidal Company.
According to The Guardian, “Under the terms of the deal, Tidal’s superstar co-owners, who include Beyoncé, Madonna and Rihanna, will retain their stakes and become the second largest shareholders. Jay-Z will join Square’s board of directors.”
The major deal was addressed by both Dorsey and Jay-Z through their respective Twitter accounts on Thursday morning.
“I said from the beginning that TIDAL was about more than just streaming music, and six years later, it has remained a platform that supports artists at every point in their careers. Artists deserve better tools to assist them in their creative journey,” Jay-Z tweeted.
Jay-Z continued to commend Dorsey and their business partnership in later tweets.
“Jack is one of the greatest minds of our times, and our many discussions about TIDAL’s endless possibilities have made me even more inspired about its future. This shared vision makes me even more excited to join the Square board.”
Jack Dorsey reciprocated the appreciation, complimenting Jay-Z and his company Tidal. Additionally, he posted a picture of him and Jay-Z engaging in conversation over wine as an emblem of their new partnership.
“I’m grateful for Jay’s vision, wisdom, and leadership. I knew TIDAL was something special as soon as I experienced it, and I’m inspired to work with him. He’ll now help lead our entire company, including Seller and the Cash App, as soon as the deal closes,” Dorsey tweeted.
Dorsey also explained the importance of keeping artists at the forefront of the partnership.
“Square is acquiring a majority ownership stake in TIDAL through a new joint venture, with the original artists becoming the second largest group of shareholders, and JAY-Z joining the Square board. Why would a music streaming company and a financial services company join forces?!,” Dorsey tweets.
Further expanding, Dorsey tweets “It comes down to a simple idea: finding new ways for artists to support their work. New ideas are found at the intersections, and we believe there’s a compelling one between music and the economy. Making the economy work for artists is similar to what Square has done for sellers.”
This new partnership has been in the works for some time. According to the Hollywood Reporter, “Talks between Dorsey and Jay-Z began a few months ago and progressed after the duo, per Dorogusker, “discovered this shared purpose between them, which was to build things that empowered others to be more successful in their own work.”
Although the acquisition will close in the second quarter it will have no impact on its consolidated revenue or gross profit for 2021, according to The Hollywood Reporter.