"We were very close to being billionaires" — Tashera Simmons says DMX not investing in the Barclays Center with Jay-Z was a bad business decision

Tashera Simmons, DMX's ex-wife, appeared on the February 4 episode of Reality With The King, hosted by Carlos King on YouTube, where she opened up about the late rapper's finances and business decisions. For the unversed, DMX died of a heart attack in New York in 2021.

Simmons and DMX were married between 1999 and 2014 and shared four children. The late rapper was also the father of 11 other children with eight other women.

In the podcast interview, King brought up how DMX was in debt at the time of his death, comparing it to when the rapper and Simmons lived a wealthy life when he was at his peak. Simmons seemingly agreed with the sentiment, claiming DMX was so close to becoming a billionaire.

"I remember looking at our bank accounts and the zeros wouldn't stop. I'm not even exaggerating, he got 10 million a movie, that wasn't even including all his shows. He made, like, millions just doing a show. And when he went on tour, I mean, he would come back with...I wanna say we were very close to being billionaires. It was, X made a lot, it was so much money," Simmons said.

However, Simmons added that the late rapper made bad business decisions that affected his fortune. She cited his refusal to invest in the Barclays Center with Jay-Z as one such decision. The Barclays Center is an indoor arena in New York City that hosts various sporting events and concerts.

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"X didn't see that as a good investment" — Tashera Simmons about DMX's refusal to invest in Barclays Center

During her podcast interview, Tashera Simmons revealed that her ex-husband didn't see the Barclays Center deal as a good investment. She added that he refused to contribute when asked. Simmons continued that she disagreed with DMX's decision to forgo the Barclays Center investment, calling the deal a "no-brainer."

"They asked X about the Barclays Centre, I'll never forget it. They called him and said Jay is in and they want to know if you want to put in a million dollars to get in. And, you know for the people out there, you know, unfortunately, when we were, I hate to say ignorant but when we were ignorant and we don't have any real business sense, you know, X didn't see that as a good investment.

"And I saw it and I didn't even have a lot of business sense. And I was like, "It's a no-brainer why wouldn't we go into pot with them? X didn't wanna do it and now look. A lot of bad business decisions."

When host Carlos King asked Simmons how DMN lost all his money if he was on track to becoming a billionaire, the late rapper's ex-wife claimed he spent all his money "taking care of everyone and their mama."

She spoke about the rapper's philanthropic nature, saying he often paid the funeral bills when someone died. However, she added that the rapper had a habit of going on vacations and renting entire hotels, spending nearly $150K a day.

For the unversed, DMX filed for bankruptcy thrice, in 2009, 2013 and 2016. The late rapper was millions in debt during the time of his death. He also left no will in the event of his death, leading to his family battling over his estate in court.

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On a professional front, DMX's spoken-word monologues were compiled into pieces of prayers and released as a posthumous album in December 2024. According to Forbes, Warryn Campbell, a Grammy-winning songwriter and producer, spearheaded the project titled Let Us Pray: Chapter X, which also featured artists like Snoop Dogg and MC Lyte.