‘We Were Millionaires’: Mathew Knowles Refuses to Let Beyoncé Get All the Credit for His Success
Beyoncé‘s father might not be the most popular person in his family, but he’s not taking a back seat to any Knowles family member.
Nearly 30 years ago, Mathew Knowles’ older daughter got her start in a girl group with her dad as her manager. He was destined to make her rich and a star.
However, he used a recent interview to remind everyone why he’s a self-made man.
Most people knew Mathew as the founder of Destiny’s Child before Beyoncé launched her solo career.
He managed the group and his daughter’s solo career before she fired him in 2011 over financial disputes.
Since then, Beyoncé has stacked milestone after milestone.
- First act to have her first six studio albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200
- First Black woman to headline Coachella (2018)
- First Black woman to win the Grammy for Best Country Album (2025)
- Holds the record for the most Grammy wins: 35 Awards
- Named the “Greatest Pop Star of the 21st Century” by Billboard
But Mathew is setting the record straight for people who keep getting it wrong, saying he has achieved far more than people realize.
In a June 30 interview on “Outlaws with TS Madison,” Knowles unapologetically listed his accomplishments during the show’s “Talk Your S—t” segment.
He then went down a list of his accolades and wealth:
- Part owner of Chicago’s WNBA franchise and a 20-year corporate executive
- “No. 1 sales rep in the world” at Xerox Corporation in the medical division
- “First Black person in America to sell MRI and CT scanners for Philips Medical Systems”
- Worked as a neurosurgical specialist for Johnson & Johnson
- Had a joint venture for five seasons with BET’s “Sunday Best”
“For all of y’all that talk s—t that think Beyoncé made me? … No,” said Knowles. “We were millionaires when was 4 years old. So let me talk my s—t.”
The 74-year-old claimed that he and his ex-wife, Tina Knowles, became millionaires from owning the No. 1 hair salon in Houston in 1985.
“I continue to talk my … as I was the one who architected Destiny’s Child and Beyonce and Solange and Kelly and Michelle’s career. Let me continue,” he said.
Beyoncé and Solange are the only sisters in Billboard 200 history to both score solo No. 1 albums.
Beyoncé has eight solo No. 1 albums, while Solange reached the summit in 2016 with A Seat at the Table. pic.twitter.com/cpSUcoE2OV
— Pop Cruise (@PopCruiseHQ) July 1, 2026
Knowles founded Music World Entertainment in 1992 and signed Destiny’s Child to the label.
But in 2002, he sold it for $10 million as a joint venture with a UK record label called Sanctuary Records Group and made five men millionaires.
As part of the venture, they released additional albums for other prestigious artists.
Matthew said, “So what you might don’t know is [that] Nelly’s manager, I bought his company. That’s why Kelly and Nelly did ‘Dilemma.’”
“Talk my s—t,” he continued, “Also, I bought two young men their company and they had Floetry, Eve, and then eventually they had Lady Gaga.”
“Let me talk my s—t. That’s how ‘Telephone’ got made with Lady Gaga because I owned the management company,” Knowles detailed.
Sanctuary Records bought Erving Wonder from its owners, Troy Carter and J. Erving, in 2004, placing them as executive VPs in the Sanctuary Urban Division.
Erving Wonder Management had clients like Eve, Floetry, Jadakiss, and the late legend Angie Stone.
In 2007, the company signed rising star Lady Gaga, and by 2010, she collaborated with Beyoncé and Beyoncé’s daughter on the pop anthem “Telephone.”
Knowles acquired six total management companies and gained artists like Mary, Mary and Mary J. Blige. He told “The Record Business” in 2024 that he kept the original managers with their artists, while he advised them on strategy.
Some of those artists were the O’Jays, Earth, Wind & Fire, Chaka Khan, Sunshine Anderson and Kool & the Gang.
“Am I talking enough?” Because I’m only halfway,” Knowles continued.
He likely influenced several major films starring his daughter, Beyoncé.
Mathew said the soundtracks for “Cadillac Records,” “Dreamgirls, and “The Fighting Temptations” were all released through his record label and were major successes.
He also mentioned House of Deréon, the clothing line Tina and Beyoncé started in 2005, which he claims was later sold for $75 million.
Fans were impressed by Knowles listing his accomplishments without hesitation, as he feels he’s owed his flowers. One person said, “He needs to open the Mathew Knowles Academy Of Superstars.”
Another person reflecting on how he became a millionaire wrote, “Millionaire in the 80’s…. Different type of money.”
Knowles ended his rant by highlighting his philanthropic work. He said he supports HBCUs and serves as president in residence at Prairie View A&M University.
He also noted that he is a breast cancer survivor and has served as a global ambassador for 23andMe and Zero Prostate Cancer.
Knowles’s marriage to Tina ended in 2011 after 31 years and revelations of infidelity on his part.
He welcomed son Nixon Alexander Knowles and daughter Koi Mychael Knowles with two different women in 2010. Mathew later married real estate agent Gena Charmaine Avery in 2013.
‘We Were Millionaires’: Mathew Knowles Refuses to Let Beyoncé Get All the Credit for His Success