Damon Dash, the hip-hop mogul and record executive who co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with Jay-Z and Kareem “Biggs” Burke, detailed dire financial straits as he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last week.
The 54-year-old New York native claimed in his voluntary petition, reviewed by The Times, that he is in debt to the tune of $25.3 million. The petition, filed Thursday in Florida, says Dash makes no monthly income and has $4,350 to his name — including $100 in cash, a $500 cellphone and two guns worth $750.
A legal representative for Dash did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment on Monday.
Dash’s petition says he owes a total of $25,303,049.47 to as many as 49 creditors, with a majority of that (about $19.1 million) owed to the government in the form of taxes and other debts. He also owes nearly $648,000 in domestic support obligations to ex-wife Rachel Roy and ex-girlfriend Cindy Morales, the petition said. Dash and Roy were married from 2005 to 2009 and share two daughters. Dash shares a son with Morales, and has additional children from other relationships.
The petition confirms reports that Dash’s one-third share of Roc-A-Fella Records was auctioned to the New York Department of Taxation and Finance in August 2024 to help pay off his tax debt. Dash claims he is also owed a “possible” but unspecified amount of money from Burke, and also “unknown” amounts of money from his “possible” claims against actor Claudia Jordan, filmmaker Josh Webber and others he has battled in court.
“Dear Frank” filmmaker Webber and production company Muddy Water Pictures — also mentioned in Dash’s petition — sued the music entrepreneur for copyright infringement and defamation in 2019. A jury sided with the filmmakers in the spring of 2022 and ordered Dash to pay more than $800,000 in damages, but tensions from that decision have dragged into 2025. Webber last month accused Dash and the businessman’s girlfriend of hiding assets that would help pay off the hefty judgment, Complex reported.
Webber also sued Dash for libel and slander in April 2024. Dash was ordered earlier this year to pay the filmmaker $4 million.
As reports of his decision to file for bankruptcy spread, Dash seemingly took ownership of the financial revelations. On Instagram, he reshared a post from hip-hop-centric website WorldStar about his legal woes to his own page.
“Now let’s get to work #staytuned,” Dash captioned his post.
