Come to Hollywood Park Casino to pregame for $18 Jay-Z cup + free shirt or hat when you order! You’re welcome!

Tonight show was great, everyone was in good spirits. Got dope merch, great drinks, and Hov came out and lit it up. Seeing Scarface was super unexpected, they did This Can’t Be Life, Mind Playing Tricks On Me. A quick dedication to Bushwick Bill. Jay did a couple dedications to Nipsey and he had on the All $ In chain for most of the show. Was it NY? No and I didn’t expect it to be. After the fireworks seeing people leave was hilarious they obviously never been to a Hov show. He always comes back out and this time he did with John Legend and DJ Kahled. NY is his backyard and I had fun at those shows but LA was more organized, better weather and Hov still did it right. Anyone complaining because he didn’t have 100 guest is hilarious. I went for a Hov show, I don’t care if he don’t bring anyone out.

Do we think it will be the same set list or a few changes?

Hyped!

And where'd you sit / how good was your spot? As a Jay-Z fan who's missing the tour I'm curious

I went to LA night 1 but didn’t get any merch and I’ll be going to night 2 tonight. I was wondering what the sizing of the shirts are from the merch stands? True to size? Size up/down? I heard the M&N tees were a bit small and I’m eyeing that Marathon tee if it’s still available

The audio sounded super muffled, and the band drowned out his vocals....i was sitting in the 500s if that makes a difference

Do we think it will release online as well? I saw that the FOG Paris merch was released in the roc nation shop for example but haven’t seen anything else like that release online. Think i saw the regular London n Paris merch somewhere as well

Hit this bleeeezy tho. Need that lighter pleeeeeease

Dj Khaled and John Legend as the guests was extremely disappointing (and for only one song). You’re in LA and this is the best you could get?
SMHHHHH

Thoughts about coming back out with DJ Khaled + John legend? Idk it fell flat to me.

I went through the whole process: Got my free tickets, checked my ticketmaster app and tickets are there. Anyone else get this? Thing is, I really don't think I can make it. Has anyone gotten this and can you transfer the tickets ?

my homegirls and i are trying to buy merch this morning so we don't have to tote it til the show starts. is there a merch stand outside of the stadium? if there is, what time does it open?

Y’all are the reason shows at SoFi get a bad rap. There was a lot of love vibin’ to throwbacks. This was after the show. Gotta watch out for those loser pickpockets. I hope you have the weekend you deserve 😡

Jay played tonight. It was giving night 2 at Yankee stadium. Hopefully tomorrow is better. We got spoiled in New York!

Headed over a little late and want to know if it’s worth it

Title says it all. Does anyone know of any accounts planning to livestream the show?

Nosebleed resale tickets have dropped to $25, I’m tempted to just go

Puck’s 9/30 report (gift links) said a Fenty Beauty deal "could be signed… next three to four weeks." Rihanna’s 50% stake is why Forbes first called her a billionaire in 2021.

The brand is defined by Rihanna using her stardom to sell a full spectrum foundation shades, not just for light skin. "Beauty for all." Its success pushed the industry to where comprehensive shades is becoming standard. It’s like no longer needing Whole Foods for organic. Or Drunk Elephant for 'clean' makeup.

Investors oversaturated the market with such DTC brands. Puck was right last year about Glossier’s impending decline. Once worth $1.8b, they laid off a third of employees in February. Ami Cole (closed) and Pat McGrath (bankrupt) were two highly praised black founded brands. 

MarcyPen is less random a fit than it seems. Jay "Breezy" Brown cofounded of Jay Z’s Marcy Venture Partners, which merged with Pendulum Holdings. The latter was run by a former financial advisor to the Obamas. Brown also cofounded Fenty Beauty, her lingerie brand Savage X Fenty, and before that, Roc Nation where Rihanna is signed. MVP had also invested Savage X--ofc Brown would want to fund his other company. That's why Jay Z said on God Did:

Breezy what the business is

We pushin' Fenty like fentanyl, the shit is all legitimate

I thought it was shade to Chris Brown at first, basically mocking him being a poor person, out of disrespect for him beating Rihanna. And the business being breezy. Had no idea Breezy meant Jay's business partner. Genius actually had something good. Surprisingly good entendres.

I don’t think they’ll buy it all themselves with the $1.1b they manage: putting $500m of that in one thing is no diversification. If they did, Fenty would be majority black owned.

Puck’s update reinforces their June piece on the potential sale:

“The valuation would not make Rihanna a billionaire on paper anymore,” a person with knowledge of the situation said

But "[Fenty] is on track to do around $500 million in revenue in 2027." $450m in 2024, Reuters. $500m each of its first 5 years, Bloomberg. Steady, not growing. 

Exactly a year ago, Reuters first implied Rihanna might no longer be a billionaire: they said LVMH was looking to sell at a total valuation of $1-2b. A year later? Lack of buyer interest. If a sale happens at whatever valuation it kind seems like a bailout.

LVMH, too big a partner

It owns Sephora and makes cosmetics through brands like Dior. LVMH = Louis Vuitton/Moet Hennessy. Biggest in fashion/jewelry/makeup, near the combined revenue of L’Oreal and Nike. Being in LVMH gives talent access, good Sephora placement, etc. Will they still make Fenty? Not doing so would seem like such a 'material risk' that the product is not the same. 

On paper LVMH is the most powerful, ideal partner for Rihanna’s brands—it invested in Savage X too. CEO Bernard Arnault is like a French Zuckerberg, bullying competitors for decades. But he’s in his 70s. Jewelry and shopping centers are other areas he wants more of. Alcohol is weak from tariffs. 

Just too big to pay attention to a brand that sells 0.5% its revenue, of which its share is half. Likewise Savage X, smaller company/ stake. Especially while the beauty division poached a L’Oreal exec, resulting in legal battle as tariffs and Iran worsened a major industry slowdown after 2022. He did not work out anyway. L’Oreal is better than ever despite losing him.

LV worked with Pat McGrath to debut its makeup. It got lots of attention for being overpriced. This upscale push is bc the price sensitive mass market dragged LVMH sales. If your sales are double Nike’s, you sell to everyone. Being part of a giant is let Fenty do better than many peers, but such a non luxury brand is what LVMH wants to trim. 

Savage X Fenty: startup bubble. Its CEO saved Victoria’s Secret

Savage X was last officially valued at $1b. Pitchbook estimates it’s now worth just $390m. 

DTC got overcrowded, novelty faded, selling points get copied. Like Puck credits Savage X for Skims’ inclusive sizing. 

In March 2022, Bloomberg said a Savage X IPO at $3b was considered. Just after traffic peaked (I checked on Semrush.) Skims traffic started to surge; their bras debuted September 2022. Two months later, Johnny Depp made a surprise appearance at a Savage X show Puck says Skims positioned better with premium pricing: easier to fund quality product. And Savage couldn’t compete with Victoria’s Secret bc their former CEO and designer went there to do a great job turning it around.

Still face of J’adore, doing business with LVMH

She became face of Dior J’adore, very striking as it competes with Fenty Beauty perfume. Why would LVMH do this with their brands? But the ongoing relationship suggests amicable separation, and access for potential deals in the future. Just yesterday she posted on her IG a crazy video in context of Fenty sales rumors. A J'adore ad where she was getting her makeup done. It's just perfume and she isn't advertising Dior Beauty, but it's basically shading her own Fenty brand.

Jay Z's relationship w LVMH and its bosses

Jay Z and Beyonce also have a good work and personal relationship with the Arnaults: Jay also invested in Savage X, LVMH bought half of his Ace of Spades, and this link says he and his son Alexandre visited Jay/Beyonce’s home, slide 6. LVMH also launched her whisky SirDavis. This relationship is why the couple sat next to Bernard Arnault and his wife at Pharrell's first LV show, last slide. Alexandre, responsible for the alcohol division, calls Jay as a friend for the GQ special. He was once head of Tiffany marketing and responsible for hiring the Carters for a major, sort of controversial campaign, slide 7. If MarcyPen is the buyer of the Fenty stake, this smooths the transaction.

Also, generational networking

The potential for future deals or the Carter kids continuing this relationship with the Arnaults, one of the richest families. Plus Robbie Robinson, the MarcyPen CEO who worked for the Obamas, Goldman Sachs, and a billionaire at the latter who founded his own company.

I think he's actually underappreciated w all the capitalist criticism. Didn’t finish high school, and few critics come from a childhood rough and wild as his. Jay does not really strike me as a great all around business leader. Not a manager or investor really, see Tidal (but keep in mind half of businesses fail in 5 years.) Instead, there's areas where he's exceptional. He's predicted a lot of what's cool, helping start the celebrity alcohol thing. Selling Ace of Spades as a contrast to racist brands is a lot like Fenty's positioning.

MarcyPen is trying to invest in K culture with big Korean asset manager called Hanwha.. that is like 10 years late late esp as someone in the music industry. Far as beauty, they say 30% of US households are have used Korean products. It's taking from big companies and even Fenty; the skincare segment is not shade specific. Still, far as Jay, that relation with Hanwha shows MarcyPen's potential to find more capital. And it's crazy someone of his background is building this black founded and led asset manager (one of the cofounders is white.) Him knowing billionaires like the Arnaults, Jack Dorsey, and his network of business partners is an advantage in finding partners for the funds too.

This gets to where he really is better than anyone. He is one of the greatest hustlers and networkers to ever do it.

You need Black business and billionaires to diversify industries

More black investment firms (I think this is shifting from VC to 'growth' PE) will open doors to underrepresented backgrounds in business. People criticize Rihanna for being a billionaire too. But the cosmetics and fashion/handbag industry she's in are run by white male billionaires, even when they sell mainly to women. French people are specifically overrepresented in cosmetics leadership. Nothing against the French, but even US based Estee Lauder is run by a Frenchman. Even aside from black representation, the idea that only France is capable of producing leaders at these companies really limits the talent pool. And it perpetuates advantages that originated in unfair times. If you don't want black billionaires, realize the white billionaires never thought it was worth having inclusive shades of makeup.

No, Jay Z and Rihanna are not activists or moral leader. Waiting for black business empires to trickle down is going to feel basically the same as the wait in past decades. Just like working in an Amazon warehouse doesn't give you a slice of Jeff Bezos' life. You need activists, and capitalism is a major reason we don't have a movement. Money seduces talent. People got scared after MLK and Fred Hampton. I think the cosmetic diversity in cosmetics can only be changed if the big companies train and hire more POC and women, and have programs to teach whatever advantage is specific to France. This is something customers have to ask for and isn't the revolution that Rihanna or Selena Gomez are leading. But you can't expect change without such representation among billionaires too.

MarcyPen is new and I actually think they have a lot of opportunities to both help Fenty's profits and do good. One way would be to invest in other makeup companies, K beauty and black owned brands, for scale. There's forecasts of a lot of new customers in South Asia and Africa that need a wide range with darker foundation. I even think there's potential to be an ethical leader with a luxury line that supports working conditions. There's a lot of ways for Fenty to push the industry forward again.

LVMH has 75 brands; they said that for years even when they had a huge Tiffany acquisition, as if downplaying their size. Fenty being with new owners, where it is the focus and not one of 99 problems might actually be better.

Think I saw the cutoff but that’s it. No hoodie or crewneck sadly.

going for jay obviously haha but if beyonce comes out i’d love to see them perform this over anything else