Nas is $340 million richer after inking deal with U.S. media company

We’re barely a month into 2019 but legendary rapper and business mogul Nas is cashing in big time!

According to Complex, media giant Viacom has purchased Pluto TV, a streaming service which the rapper’s Queensbridge Venture Partners has a stake in for $340 million. 

Founded in 2013 with its headquarters in Los Angeles, Pluto TV, in collaboration with popular TV networks, movie studios, publishers and digital media companies has over a hundred channels (covering news, lifestyle, TV shows, sports, comedy, among others) plus thousands of on-demand movies available to users.

“Today marks an important step forward in Viacom’s evolution, as we work to move both our company and the industry forward,” Bob Bakish, Viacom President and CEO said about the purchase. “Pluto TV’s unique and market-leading product, combined with Viacom’s brands, content, advanced advertising capabilities and global scale, creates a great opportunity for consumers, partners and Viacom.”

“As the video marketplace continues to segment, we see an opportunity to support the ecosystem in creating products at a broad range of price points, including free,” he continued. “To that end, we see significant white space in the ad-supported streaming market and are excited to work with the talented Pluto TV team, and a broad range of Viacom partners, to accelerate its growth in the U.S. and all over the world.”

This isn’t the first time the Queensbridge rapper’s venture has made lucrative investments in promising startups. It is worthy to note that Queensbridge Venture Partners was also an early investor in ride-hailing company Lyft, digital media company Genius as well as online pharmacy company Pillpack, which Amazon purchased for $1 billion last year, according to Atlanta Black Star.