‘Broke billionaires’ or investing geniuses? Why Beyoncé and Jay-Z took out a second $57M mortgage

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Why bother with a mortgage when you have billions of dollars? Why even fill out a loan application when you could simply pay cash for any home on the market?

That’s the question readers might be asking when they read that Jay-Z and Beyoncé took on not one, but two mortgages on their $88 million Bel-Air mansion, according to The Daily Mail (1).

The estate is the crown jewel in their alleged $313-million real estate portfolio — which also includes a palatial Hamptons home, a sprawling Malibu mansion and a chic New York penthouse.

The couple is reportedly worth around $4 billion, yet they secured a $57.8 million mortgage on the property in 2025 (2). And this was after locking in a $52.8 million mortgage four years earlier.

Are the music moguls now just broke billionaires, as some online commentators have speculated, or is this a savvy real estate move? Here’s a closer look.

An outstanding liability of roughly $110.6 million on a single property likely sounds mind-boggling, though that figure is just 2.8% of the couple’s combined wealth.

They have secured fairly attractive interest rates on both mortgages. According to The Daily Mail, the new mortgage from Morgan Stanley’s Private Bank Group had a 30-year term with an interest rate fixed at 5% for the next 10 years.

The previous mortgage, meanwhile, was secured from Goldman Sachs at 3.15%. Both of those rates are notably below 2026’s average 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 6.1%, according to the Federal Reserve (3).

Even if their interest rates were closer to the average, their loans would have still unlocked some key financial benefits for the billionaire couple.

By borrowing money against an asset they can easily afford, Jay-Z and Beyoncé seem to be pulling from the “buy, borrow, die” playbook. The strategy involves acquiring appreciating assets like real estate, stocks or artwork — and borrowing against those assets to create tax-free cash flow. Then they can pass the assets along to their heirs (Blue Ivy, Rumi and Sir) to potentially erase long-term capital gains.

Beyond the tax advantages, this method also helps wealthy families minimize opportunity costs. By borrowing against their mansion, Jay-Z and Beyoncé can invest the $110.6 million they owe into their various business ventures or even the S&P 500, which has delivered an annualized return of approximately 16.3% over the past 10 years (4).

On their passing, the property portfolio’s tax basis would reset, potentially saving their three children millions of dollars in capital gains taxes.

Other celebrities also take advantage of this strategy — even though Paris Hilton’s net worth is reportedly between $300 and $400 million, she and her husband took out a $43.8 million mortgage on their $63 million Beverly Hills mansion in 2025, according to Fortune (5).

But you don’t have to be a billionaire to use leverage as a financial tool.

Read More: Approaching retirement with no savings? Don’t panic, you’re not alone. Here are 6 easy ways you can catch up (and fast)

Anyone, regardless of their net worth, can use debt strategically to start building wealth.

The most important part of this strategy is to only borrow for appreciating assets. For instance, buying property with a mortgage or getting a business loan to start a new venture may help you build equity, while using an expensive personal loan or credit card debt to finance a vacation could destroy your wealth over time.

If real estate investing sounds like a lot of extra work, you might be surprised to learn you don’t have to take on a mortgage to benefit from the property market.

You can tap into real estate by investing in shares of vacation homes and rental properties through Arrived.

Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived allows you to invest in shares of vacation and rental properties, earning a passive income stream without the extra work that comes with being a landlord of your own rental property.

To get started, simply browse their selection of vetted properties, each chosen for appreciation and income-generating potential.

Once you choose a property, you can start investing with as little as $100.

Beyond vacation and rental homes, you could also consider larger real estate opportunities.

Accredited investors can tap into this approach through platforms like Lightstone DIRECT, giving you access to institutional-quality multifamily and industrial real estate — with a minimum investment of $100,000.

Founded in 1986 by David Lichtenstein, Lightstone Group is one of the largest privately held real estate investment firms in the U.S., with more than $12 billion in assets under management.

Over nearly-four decades, their team has delivered strong, risk-adjusted performance across multiple market cycles — including a 27.6% historical net IRR and a 2.54x historical net equity multiple on realized investments since 2004.

With Lightstone DIRECT, you gain access to that proprietary deal flow.

Here’s the kicker: Lightstone invests at least 20% of its own capital in every deal — roughly four times the industry average.

With skin in the game, the firm ensures its interests are directly aligned with those of its investors.

The power couple also invests in a museum-worthy art collection, holds stakes in luxury brands like D’USSÉ and Armand de Brignac, and owns the rights to their hit-studded music catalogs to achieve that $4 billion net worth (6).

Billionaires have long carved out a slice of their portfolios in an asset class with low correlation to the market and strong rebound potential: post-war and contemporary art.

Now, with Masterworks, you can buy fractional shares in multimillion-dollar works by icons like Banksy, Picasso and Basquiat — and invest like Jay and Bey do.

Masterworks has sold 25 artworks so far, yielding net annualized returns like 14.6%, 17.6% and 17.8%.*

Moneywise readers can get priority access to diversify with art: Skip the waitlist here.

Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Investing involves risk. See important Regulation A disclosures at Masterworks.com/cd

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.

Daily Mail (1); Cosmopolitan (2); St. Louis Federal Reserve (3); S&P 500 Global (4); Fortune (5); Robb Report (6)

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.