Nas has been making all kinds of tech investments over the past few years as a founding member of Queensbridge Venture Partners. He's already been successful by investing in companies like Rap Genius, Dropbox, SeatGeek, and Lyft. And according to several reports, he just cashed in on the sale of a smart doorbell company.
In late February, a company called Ring, which makes smart video doorbells, was acquired by Amazon. Forbes reports that Ring was sold for $1.1 billion. Nas was one of the company's first investors, so he's set to take home over $40 million from the sale, according to WeBuyBlack.
Forbes also reports that Shaquille O’Neal will receive a nice payday as well, as he agreed to an equity stake in the company in exchange for his appearances in Ring’s advertisements.
So, how did a doorbell company become so valuable? In 2017, Ring had a monopoly on the market with a 97% share of all U.S. video doorbell sales. Using a tiny camera in the doorbell, users can see a video broadcast through an app on their phones.
Nas has yet to publicly comment on the big payday, but in an interview about his investments, he recently told Fast Company: "You invest your time, you can invest money and it was just a matter of time before it all fell into place for me. That’s one of the things that I thought a lot about as a young kid—the guys behind the scenes who make things happen, help build people up, make dreams come true."
