Tech wealth converted even failing projects into windfalls for the well connected

Evidence

On his quest toward billionaire status, Jay-Z also entered the tech game. In 2015, he acquired Tidal, an obscure Norwegian rival of Spotify, for 56 million and branded it the first artist-owned music platform. Despite limited user adoption, the venture paid off when Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey bought Tidal for 297 million in 2021. Critics panned the deal as a “$300 million bar tab to hang out with Jay-Z,” but it showcased how tech could turn even floundering projects into windfalls for the well connected. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 516

Categorization

• SEED: The Tidal flip is a compact case study of celebrity-status economics in the tech era — an essay angle on how cultural clout itself became the tradeable asset.
• XREF: connects to: Post-2008 low interest rates rerouted surplus capital into a tech boom — Nick Srnicek, Platform Capitalism, 74