Lil Wayne sells his master recordings to Universal Music for a cool $100 million.
Lil Wayne’s net worth went up, and the rapper is reportedly a billionaire after he sold his masters to Universal Music Group for more than $100 million. The sale and transfer reportedly took place in June 2020 but is only coming to the public because of Ronald Sweeney’s lawsuit, TMZ is reporting.
The disclosures are said to be from Weezy’s former manager Sweeney who is suing his former boss for $20 million, which he said is unpaid sums for work done between 2005-2018. According to Sweeney in his lawsuit, Lil Wayne hired him in 2005 to spearhead a re-negotiation of Weezy’s deal with Birdman and Cash Money.
The lawsuit was settled in 2018, and Sweeney says he is entitled to payments he did not receive for his work during that deal. He said he received a few payments but that it was “nowhere near” what he believes Lil Wayne owes him.
Sweeney says that he also took over as Weezy’s manager after Cortez Bryant was fired. Il Wayne also increased his commission from 10% t0 17%. Lil Wayne eventually fired Sweeney in September 2018, and according to him, he is not paid up for his work as a manager.
Lil Wayne is among the few who are selling their masters, while many like Kanye experience roadblocks in buying back his masters from universal. Others like Rihanna and Beyonce are among the few who have sole ownership of their masters.
Ownership of the masters means that the recording artiste holds all the recording, performing and other rights and royalties associated with their music.
