There’s a question floating around on social media with responses in the form of memes. The question is, would you choose “$500k or dinner with Jay-Z? Most of the responses are pretty funny. Some say they would have dinner with Jay-Z so they could ask him what the meaning of the “Z” in his name is. Others say they would take the money and buy exotic animals and take luxurious trips. 

One meme stands out in particular because it addresses the question seriously. The meme has a picture of Jay-Z having dinner with his eldest daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, with a caption from Twitter handler @profitwithant stating, “Dinner with Jay-Z is the better option over $500k because of the knowledge & expertise he has. He’ll give you the blueprint on being wealthy and successful. His knowledge will be worth more long-term than the short-term $500k.”

It’s good to see that there are people that value knowledge, wisdom, and experience. Jay-Z is a very impressive and knowledgeable person, but there are better ways to acquire his knowledge and expertise than turning down $500k. Before we go into better ways to acquire Jay-Z’s wisdom, here’s a little background about him.

JAY-Z’s BACKGROUND

Jay-Z, real name Shawn Corey Carter, was born December 4, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York. He attended several different high schools but never graduated. He started an independent record label, Roc-A-Fella Records, in 1995 along with Damon Dash and Kareem Burke. The record label was created out of necessity because many major record labels at the time didn’t want to sign him.

He has released 13 studio albums, all of which have seen commercial success. He has ventured into multiple business opportunities, such as fashion, music streaming, sports team ownership, sports agency ownership, and the list goes on. He famously said on a Kanye West song, “Diamonds From Sierra Leone,” “I’m not a businessman; I’m a business, man!” It’s no surprise that in 2019 he became the first billionaire rapper.

Jay-Z married Beyoncé in 2008, which made the Carters one of the wealthiest and most powerful celebrity couples in the world. They have three children: Blue Ivy, Sir, and Rumi Carter. He is not without controversy, and despite the fairy-tale life, things haven’t always been smooth. Public disputes with former business partner Damon Dash and infidelity in his marriage shine an unflattering light on the music mogul. Critics of Jay-Z state that he shouldn’t be idolized due to his past life as a drug dealer. Despite the setbacks and the challenges Jay-Z faced, he seemed to keep moving forward.

At the age of 51, Jay-Z has lived a colorful and exciting life that shows no sign of slowing. He is the embodiment of the rags-to-riches story and the long shot beating all the odds to become who he is today. The lure to be in the same room with Jay-Z is very attractive, especially for those who would like to achieve the same things, but is it the wiser choice over half a million dollars?

The Twitter handler provided several arguments for why a dinner with Jay-Z would be more beneficial. Instead of comparing to see which is better, we will see if there are more cost-effective ways to acquire Jay-Z’s wisdom. This is a great example of opportunity cost, which is what you have to give up when you make a choice.

KNOWLEDGE & EXPERTISE

Let’s first look at the knowledge and expertise Jay-Z has, and instead of comparing to see which is better, let’s look at some more cost-effective ways to acquire Jay-Z’s knowledge & expertise without giving up $500K. As it pertains to Jay-Z’s expertise, we can assume what the Twitter handler means is Jay-Z’s skills as a musician/rapper and his skills as a businessman. Any skill a person can exchange in the marketplace for money is valuable. The skill Jay-Z exchanges in the marketplace is his ability to make music. The business technique he used over the years to grow his wealth is investing.

One of the first things a person can do to acquire Jay-Z’s knowledge and expertise is to explore all of Jay-Z’s music, features, interviews, and books written about him. If you want to learn how to make music like Jay-Z, it would be smart to listen to all his music. If a person is not musically inclined, they can discover and develop their own talent that they can exchange in the marketplace for money. Jay-Z was not born a great musician; he had to work at it. 

There are many hours of interviews on the internet and books written about Jay-Z providing ample information on his mindset and his views on success and how he became a better musician and investor. There are many other interviews as well as people who are close to Jay-Z that provide a substantial amount of information about him. 

Jay-Z is a busy man, and dinner with him will only be between 30 and 60 minutes. An hour is not enough time to pick the brain of a person with that much knowledge and experience. You will get more information from watching his interviews, listening to his music, and reading his books. The cost of this choice will be time, and if a person is a fan of Jay-Z, this time spent will be enjoyable. You will get to keep the $500k minus the cost of books if a person chooses to buy books on Jay-Z.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Another way a person could acquire business knowledge and an expertise that would be less than forgoing $500k is to attend a business school. Businessbecause.com stated in an article on their website that MIT Sloan “offers the most expensive top MBA program in the world.” The cost of the program is $241,984 for 24 months. If a person takes the $500k and forgoes dinner with Jay-Z, they will still be able to pay for tuition along with living expenses and healthcare costs and still have $258,016 left over. 

Many would say getting into MIT Sloan Business School is extremely difficult, but one of the biggest barriers to higher education is affordability. Attending business school provides the opportunity to network with the future business leaders of the world. You will also have one of the best educations provided by some of the best teachers in the world. Here you will have the opportunity to discover and develop your expertise that you can exchange for cash in the marketplace.

BLUEPRINT TO WEALTH & SUCCESS

The next argument the Twitter handler provided is that Jay-Z can provide the “blueprint on being wealthy and successful.” In choosing the $500k, a person would have taken a great leap towards wealth and success, if not so as to achieve it. Depending on how success is defined, one can say that choosing the $500k automatically makes them successful and wealthy. If a person defines success as similar to what Jay-Z has accomplished in his lifetime, then a person would still be closer to that if they chose the money over the dinner.

It is important for a person to define their own success and work towards that. The accumulation of Jay-Z’s wealth and success up to this point is the result of over 30 years of effort. Taking the money would put a person in a better position to accomplish a similar type of wealth and success.

Secondly, it is very difficult for Jay-Z to provide a tangible blueprint to an individual he is meeting for the first time only for an hour over a meal. Such information requires a person to have a deep understanding of the individual. There is no doubt that Jay-Z possesses the skill to analyze a person, but to provide a tangible plan requires more than an hour. Also, Jay-Z’s blueprint may not be useful to another individual due to different personality types, different circumstances, and the current state of economic opportunities. 

Also, whatever advice, tips, or information provided by Jay-Z will need continuous mentorship in order to be implemented. It would be a waste of money in this case–$500k to hire a teacher that will only teach one lesson for a skill that requires a lot of guidance. A better alternative is to take the $500k and find a mentor that you are willing to work for without expecting pay. With the $500k, they would be able to work for knowledge and not for money.

KNOWLEDGE LONG TERM VS. $500K SHORT TERM 

The final argument made by the Twitter handler that “Jay-Z knowledge will be worth more long term than the short-term $500k” is an opinion that is impossible to quantify. First of all, the statement is too vague. It didn’t clearly state what the “worth more” that he is speaking of is. Will it be worth more financially or sentimentally? Sentimental value is impossible to quantify because it is subjective. As it pertains to financial value, the Twitter handler didn’t state how long long-term is. Is long-term one year, ten years, or a lifetime? In any case, it would be difficult to determine how much financial success should be attributed to the dinner or other factors such as luck or individual effort.

FINAL THOUGHT

Looking at the viral meme $500k vs. dinner with Jay-Z is a fun exercise in understanding opportunity cost. Opportunity cost states that you have to give something up to get something else. In this case the opportunity cost of choosing $500k is dinner with Jay-Z, and the opportunity cost of having dinner with Jay-Z is $500k. It also gives us an opportunity to find creative ways of approaching an issue.

We could have easily made the argument that choosing the money is a better decision than having dinner with Jay-Z because the money has a higher value, but not everyone values money the same. Instead, we look at what the Twitter handler says are the benefits of having dinner with Jay-Z and find alternative ways of achieving those things. If Jay-Z were the only source to acquire knowledge, expertise, and a blueprint to wealth and success, then this would be a different argument. In that case a dinner with Jay-Z would be priceless. He would have the power to demand a price that the highest bidder is willing to pay.
Due to the fact that there are multiple ways to achieve those benefits that are less costly than $500k, choosing the money is a better decision. Also, according to Hot97.com, a hip hop radio station, Tidal, the music streaming service that Jay-Z partially owns, its Twitter account tweeted, “Take the $500k. It’s safe to assume that even Jay-Z would take the money.