According to the Daily Mail’s report, the couple originally took out a $52.8 million mortgage in 2017 and more recently took out a $57.75 million mortgage in 2025, a rather mundane move for a couple who could skip the loan and just pay cash.
Is the couple struggling to make ends meet? Hardly. Jay-Z is still doing well. Well enough to potentially keep the attention of over 100 million football-loving Americans. Here’s why.
I’ve got 99 problems, but a mortgage ain’t one
An outstanding liability of roughly $110.55 million on a single property (which has surely been partially paid down by now) sounds mind-boggling until you put it into context. Not only is the figure just 3% of the couple’s combined wealth, it’s also at a fairly attractive interest rate.
According to The Daily Mail, the latest mortgage was secured from Morgan Stanley’s Private Bank Group at a 30-year term with an interest rate fixed at 5% for the next ten years. The previous mortgage, meanwhile, was secured from Goldman Sachs at 3.15%. Effectively, the average rate on both these mortgages is significantly below the October 2026 30-year mortgage rate of 7.4%, according to the Federal Reserve.
Even if the interest rates were closer to the average, these loans would have still unlocked some key financial benefits for the billionaire couple.
Buy, borrow, die
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, such as real estate, stocks or artwork. Then they borrow against those assets to create tax-free cash flow, subsequently passing the assets to their heirs (Blue Ivy, Rumi and Sir) to erase capital gains over the long term.
Beyond the tax advantages, this method also helps wealthy families minimize opportunity costs. By borrowing against their Bel Air mansion, Jay-Z and Beyoncé can invest roughly $110 million in their various business ventures or even the S&P 500, which has delivered a compounded annual growth rate of 13% to roughly 15% over the past ten years.
On their passing, the property portfolio’s tax basis would reset, potentially saving the three children millions of dollars in capital gains taxes.
Jay-Z and Beyoncé are not the only ones using this clever strategy. Back in 2012, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg refinanced his Palo Alto home at a 30-year fixed term with an adjustable rate of 1.05% despite being the 40th richest person in the world at the time.
