On Christmas Eve Jay-Z announced that he will step down as the president of Def Jam Records at the end of this year.

Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, made a statement in which he said that he will retire from the hip-hop world after three years of presidency. He made this announcement more than once, though he came back to release two new albums.

Still, Jay-Z won’t retire for good as he will remain as a signed artist under Def Jam's Roc-A-Fella label.

Chief Executive of the Island Def Jam Music Group, Antonio "L.A." Reid, said: "While he will continue to be one of our signature artists, he will nonetheless be missed in this executive capacity," Forbes.com reports.

Apparently this news it’s not a complete shock entirely. Earlier this month Jay-Z and Def Jam talked about a new contract, but nothing was decided. According to a source quoted by the New York Daily News, Jay-Z “wanted big, big money that was out of sync with the realities of today's record business....Everybody at Universal loves him, but they can't justify paying him the money he wants when so many people have been laid off.”

However, Jay-Z might have a right to demand big money as his solo albums as well as collaborations were very popular and hit record sales in stores and on-line. He won 25 Grammies from which five only this year.

In his statement released Monday he said that he steps down as president of the record label which he co-founded in 1996, as it is time for him to take “new challenges.”

Jay-Z is now a part owner of the New Jersey Nets and has a nightclub franchise, the 40/40 club.

He might enter into real estate business as he plans with the New York developers to build a hotel or an art gallery in the downtown Chelsea neighborhood, the New York Post informs.

His latest album “American Gangster”, released in November 2007, was inspired by the movie, but is not the official soundtrack of it. It depicts his life as street hustler.