The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo kicked off March 4 and goes to March 23, but before celebration began 50 Cent made a splash. On March 2, wine connoisseurs and high-profile attendees with the hip-hop mogul among them — gathered at the 22nd annual Champion Wine Auction and Dinner at NRG Center, where one bottle of wine fetched an astonishing $225,000.
Going, Going, Gone!
The event, with tables going for up to $25,000, featured a four-course dinner alongside a live and silent auction showcasing 518 award-winning wines from the Rodeo’s Uncorked! International Wine Competition held in November. In total, 2,876 wines from 965 brands worldwide were up for bidding.
50 Cent came with his partners at J Alan Kent Development, and the rapper made headlines by placing the record-breaking $225,000 bid. The bottle in question? A Markham Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, which was named the Reserve Grand Champion.
This isn’t the first time 50 Cent, whose net worth is estimated to be around $40 million, has made waves at RodeoHouston’s wine auction. The Houston-based entrepreneur has become a regular at these high-stakes bidding wars. In 2023, he spent $165,000 on a Bernhardt Winery Antiquity Chardonnay Reserve, and that same year, his own Le Chemin du Roi Brut Champagne won Grand Champion Best of Show, later auctioning for an eye-watering $325,000, according to the Houston Chronicle.
At last year’s rodeo, 50 Cent was the entertainment headliner. His performance had 74,729 fans in attendance at the NRG Stadium. According to Culture Map Houston, it was one of the highest-attended RodeoHouston shows for a hip-hop headliner, just over 800 tickets away from Cardi B’s record-setting performance (75,580) in 2019 and ahead of Houston’s own Bun B (74,573) in 2023. Since its launch in 1932, the Rodeo has committed more than $600 million to the youth of Texas and education.
