Much less cash, mo issues?
Sean “Diddy” Combs seems to be dealing with a money disaster as hefty authorized payments mount and revenue from profitable partnerships dries up, evaluation of Diddy’s funds by The Put up reveals.
Diddy, 54, nonetheless lives the costly way of life of a high-profile rap star regardless of the FBI raid — which he referred to as a “witch hunt” — on his dwelling in a sex-trafficking probe amid a collection of civil fits.
He was about to board one private jet in Miami when SWAT teams stormed into his homes in Miami and Beverly Hills final month — whereas the Gulfstream he owns was last spotted in Antigua.
The Put up’s evaluation places Diddy’s complete annual payments conservatively at $35m per yr — without the impact of his secret settlement with Cassie. His reps declined to remark
And in 2023 the core of his revenue, a profitable take care of drinks large Diageo for his vodka and tequila manufacturers, hit the rocks.
His household can be more likely to be an rising monetary drain on him. Diddy is a father of seven, 4 beneath 18, and whereas he presently has no long-term accomplice, is believed to pay for the maintenance of a number of exes.
And in one other monetary risk, his son Christian “King” Combs was sued in Los Angeles Thursday by a girl who claims that he sexually assaulted her in 2022, when he was 24. He denies what he calls a “lewd and meritless” declare.
The booze deal that went flat
The biggest single source of Diddy’s wealth for nearly 20 years was his partnership with drinks large Diageo.
It introduced in money first, from 2007, by being a 50-50 accomplice within the Cîroc vodka model after which from 2013, by collectively shopping for DeLeón tequila.
As a part of his 2007 deal Diageo gave him 50% of Cîroc’s earnings and he was additionally given a advertising and marketing finances to advertise the alcohol of as a lot as $15m a yr, according to Bloomberg — which he used for lavish events on yachts, at his houses and across the nation.
In Could, 2023 Diddy sued the corporate British-based alcohol large alleging that he was being handled as a second-class accomplice to different superstar booze pitchmen like George Clooney, due to his race, organising a bitter battle — through which Diageo revealed he had been paid $1 billion since 2007.
He enlisted Rev. Al Sharpton to color his struggle as one that may assist your entire black neighborhood, “It’s like a slave grasp beating a slave” Sharpton mentioned of Diageo’s relationship with Combs.
However after getting slapped with a collection of lawsuits beginning final November which alleged he assaulted, raped, and trafficked girls final November, Diageo had clear authorized momentum.
Among the many claims within the lawsuits had been that ladies had been assaulted on the personal events funded by Diageo — and which had “reward luggage” intercourse toys, physique chocolate and strippers.
Diddy dropped his go well with in January of this yr with the drinks agency taking full management of the manufacturers, suggesting they successfully scored a whole authorized victory — leaving him with no future revenue.
Whereas the advertising and marketing finances funded Diddy’s social life, the income stream from Cîroc “floated all his different firms,” Bloomberg reported.
The fallen media empire
The best-profile of these different firms lately was Revolt TV, a cable channel which Diddy and different, undisclosed, traders arrange in 2013.
Cable channels might be profitable money cows when managed effectively as a result of their house owners obtain a “cable carriage payment,” a share of individuals’s cable funds, which is a gradual and predictable revenue, on high of which they promote promoting.
In 2013, Forbes reported his stake to be above 50% and advised that he might be seeing as a lot as $12.5m a yr in revenue from Revolt. It later additionally spawned an internet site.
However when Diddy’s ex Cassie accused him of rape and intercourse trafficking final November, Diddy stepped down as chairman.
Final month TMZ reported that he offloaded his stake in Revolt to an nameless purchaser for an undisclosed sum.
The autumn of Revolt was not his solely media catastrophe. Concurrently he was sued, a actuality present which was resulting from be produced for Hulu about Diddy’s life was canned.
Companies additionally rapidly cut ties with his marketplace for black enterprise Empower World.
However maybe the extra bitter private blow for Diddy now will likely be that Unhealthy Boy information, which powered his rise by the Nineties with hits each from him and its top-rank artists, most famously the Infamous B.I.G., is a shadow of itself.
Diddy offered a 50% stake to Warner Brothers Music in 2005 for an undisclosed sum — a 2001 valuation advised it was price $100m — however lately it has did not retain or signal main names. Other than Diddy, whose final releases had been flops, its greatest artist is Machine Gun Kelly.
The failing clothes line
Diddy was making an attempt to revive Sean John — a as soon as profitable clothes model that he offered for $70m in 2016 — and acquired out of chapter for simply $7.5m in 2021.
Whereas the corporate web site proclaims “I obtained my identify again” Diddy had but to introduce new collections or publish any of the present garments on the Sean John web site or Instagram. Whereas the garments can nonetheless be bought on Amazon, Walmart and Lyst, Macy’s has halted gross sales.
Sean John, like Diddy’s different ventures are all personal which permits him to obscure the financials. Likewise, his complicated community of LLCs makes it tough to find out his property. However his conspicuous way of life and the payments it comes with are far less difficult to place a worth on.
The A-list moneypits
Diddy’s Gulfstream 550 — a jet that may fly 6,500 miles or farther than the gap between Los Angeles and London with out refueling — prices $60m up entrance after which an extra $3.5m every year to keep up, in response to jet analysis agency Conklin & de Decker.
Whereas Diddy has lengthy been broadly reported to have his personal yacht, he seems to be a daily consumer of charters.
The yachts on which he has been seen as a number on can value as much as $300,000 every week to constitution, suggesting that his annual yacht invoice is north of $1m.
Diddy’s two houses — a $35m, waterfront compound in Miami and a $40m LA mansion with an underwater tunnel — might value him an additional $5m in taxes, repairs, and staffing, a supply who works with luxurious dwelling house owners mentioned.
Diddy is also on the hook for two hefty mortgages totaling practically $100m which expire in 2029 and 2036 respectively — costing him practically $8.5m a yr.
In 2018, Diddy shelled out $21.1m on a portray of a Chicago Park scene entitled “Previous Instances” by Kerry James Marshall — it was the most costly portray ever sold by a living black artist.
Diddy additionally has a multi-million greenback jewellery assortment together with a $300,000 Richard Mille watch, a 30 carat diamond pinky ring — which might be price hundreds of thousands in response to jewelers — and a $500,000 diamond chain necklace.
The household he helps
It’s unclear how a lot Diddy spends on baby help in complete however a courtroom submitting from 2005 reveals he was ordered to pay month-to-month baby help of $21,782 on simply one in all his seven kids. That comes out to $261,420 per yr.
If he nonetheless paid that actual quantity, with out adjusting for inflation, it might add an additional $1.8m only for his children. It’s unclear if Diddy nonetheless helps all his kids, one in all whom is 32 however reports suggest he supports several girlfriends.
. Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
The most important new invoice: legal professionals
Mark Geragos, who beforehand represented Diddy — in addition to Usher, Chris Brown, Michael Jackson, and Nicole Ritchie — estimated Diddy’s present authorized payments would be the annual equal of a “excessive seven determine dedication.”
“Typically circumstances like this are dealt with on an hourly foundation and Diddy has at all times availed himself of a high shelf authorized group which may value as much as $1750 an hour.”
On high of that he settled with Cassie for an undisclosed sum and now faces mushrooming authorized claims and a federal investigation which, if it resulted in costs, could be expensive to defend.
However does he have a secret stash?
After all, given Diddy has been making hundreds of thousands because the Nineties its very attainable he has put loads of money in investments, can reside off his property, and has a warfare chest for his authorized payments, his former lawyer contends.
Whereas Geragos says he has no inside data of Diddy’s funds he notes, “He’s been in difficult conditions earlier than and customarily lands on his toes… he’s extraordinarily good and savvy.”
