On Wednesday, Jan. 2, Nas posted a photo of himself posing with Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs and wrote that he wanted to be in their financial neck of the woods.
“What better than two billionaires?” he asked, quoting Jay’s line from the song “Family Feud.” “Three, ‘specially if the third one gonna be me.”
Well, Mr. Jones may be well on his way to accomplishing that goal, because the media juggernaut Viacom purchased the Pluto TV streaming service for $340 million. Nas’ Queensbridge Venture Partners purchased an early stake in Pluto in November 2014.
The streaming service allows users to access over 100 channels, as well as on-demand movies. The company has already partnered with movie studios, major TV networks, digital media companies and publishers. The service is also compatible with all streaming devices and will be available at various price points, even free, according to Bob Bakish, Viacom’s president and CEO.
“Today marks an important step forward in Viacom’s evolution, as we work to move both our company and the industry forward,” he said in a statement. “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 added.
The rapper’s Queensbridge company is a venture capital firm with a portfolio of millions of dollars staked in some 159 investments, many in the tech sector. The rapper’s firm was an early investor in Lyft, the website Genius, and the online pharmacy company Pillpack, which Amazon purchased for $1 billion in June of last year.
