DR. DRE – EST. $850 MILLION

He began his career as part of N.W.A., which is largely considered to be one of the most influential rap groups of all time. He also gets credit for pioneering the West Coast G-funk. He remains best associated with Death Row Records, which he previously co-owned.

The first step on Dr. Dre’s journey to being the richest man in hip-hop was to drop out of school.

Though it is not encouraged for kids to do the same, Dr. Dre, born Andre Romelle Young decided to become a club D.J after continuously getting bad grades in school. Fortunately for him, as we now know, his decision didn’t end badly for him.

He is also the founder and C.E.O. of Aftermath Entertainment, as well as Beats Electronics, the latter of which he sold to Apple for $3 billion. This made Dr. Dre the richest man in hip-hop, replacing P. Diddy.