Jay-Z suggests Times wrong on his ownership stake in Brooklyn Nets

Neither Jay-Z nor the Nets have ever revealed what percentage Jay-Z owns in the team or Barclays Center. He is on the Barclays Center board of directors. David Halbfinger wrote in the Times last month that the rapper, aka global icon, owns a mere one-fifteenth of one percent, but that he wields a lot more influence that the stake would warrant.

That's a lot lower than reports going back to 2003 indicated. The Brooklyn Paper reported he owned 1.47 percent. Even after factoring in the dilution of stock ownership he and every other owner saw when Mikhail Prokhorov bought 80 percent, it's hard to get his stake that low.

Now in concerts three and four of his eight-performance run, Jay-Z seems to suggest that the Times was wrong, that he owns more. "You still got a long way to go when everybody wants to diminish your accomplishment," he said Monday night. "When I look in the paper I see them talking, 'He owns one-fifteenth of one [percent] — first of all, I don't know where they get that number from." He then told the crowd that it's a way to diminish his accomplishments.

• Jay-Z Takes Aim At Critics During 4th Barclays Show - Rob Markman - MTV
• Jay-Z Addresses Criticism -"Everybody Wanna Diminsh Your Accomplishments" - HipHop Blog