Damon Dash files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, claiming just $4,350 in assets and $25M in debt

The Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder, once worth millions, listed minimal assets, including a phone, clothing, and $100 in cash.

Damon Dash’s financial woes continue. 

On Thursday, September 4, in Florida, the 54-year-old Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, with just $4,350 in assets while facing more than $25 million in debt, the New York Post, People magazine, and Billboard reported. 

According to the filing, Dash’s assets are a $500 cell phone, two guns, some clothing, jewelry, and $100 in cash. He reported has no monthly income and no house, car, or electronics beyond the phone. 

However, his debts total more than $25.3 million, including roughly $19.1 million in taxes and more than $647,000 in domestic support obligations owed to his ex-wife, Rachel Roy (with whom he shares two daughters, Ava, 25, and Tallulah, 17), Cindy Morales, and Linda Williams, the mothers of his two sons, Lucky, 21, and Boogie, 33.  

Additional people he owes include filmmaker Josh Webber and author Edwyna Brooks, both of whom are in ongoing legal battles with the music mogul.

This is far from the first time Dash’s financial troubles have landed him in the news. In November 2024, New York State auctioned off his one-third stake in Roc-A-Fella Records for $1 million to cover unpaid taxes. 

Bankruptcy, often misunderstood, is a legal process meant to give people overwhelmed by debt a chance to catch their breath. A Chapter 7 filing, like Dash’s, is a form of liquidation that allows for the sale of non-exempt assets to pay creditors. 

Dash, hailing from Harlem, rose to prominence in the 1990s after co-founding Roc-A-Fella Records with Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Kareem “Biggs” Burke. He also co-created the Rocawear clothing line. At his peak, Dash’s ventures in entertainment and fashion made him a multimillionaire. But after famously falling out with Jay-Z in the mid-2000s followed by a string of failed business ventures, Dash’s fortune has dwindled substantially. 

Once news of this latest bankruptcy filing began to spread, Dash shared a screenshot of a headline about the case on Instagram.

“Now let’s get to work. #staytuned,” he wrote.