Sean “Diddy” Combs aggressively marketed himself to the ultra-rich as he turned his edgy rap glamor right into a billion-dollar fortune.
Billionaires advised The Put up he would chilly electronic mail with enterprise proposals, whereas different Wall Streeters acclaimed him as a “genius” and one CEO of the New York Inventory Alternate known as him an “inspiration” on a par with the Founding Fathers.
However after federal investigators raided his Los Angeles and Miami properties as a part of what legislation enforcement sources have told The Post is a sex-trafficking investigation led by the Southern District of New York, his profession as an entrepreneur and investor is in jeopardy. Diddy has denied wrongdoing and known as the probe “a witch hunt.”
Diddy was first declared a billionaire by hip-hop wealth professional Zack O’Malley Greenburg in 2022, however had coveted the standing for years, telling Forbes in 1999, “I wished to be very, very wealthy.”
Alongside the best way he acquired a Rolodex affected by bold-faced names: he partnered with billionaire investor Ron Burkle; was “mentored” by hedge fund guru Ray Dalio; had his vogue line sold in Macy’s and Dillards; went into enterprise with alcohol big Diageo; opened the New York Inventory Alternate with Estée Lauder inheritor William Lauder; struck offers with Zac Posen and Liz Claiborne; 50% owned his personal TV channel Revolt; launched a water vary with Mark Wahlberg; and teamed up with Salesforce’s Marc Benioff to launch a black enterprise market.
In 2003, he despatched the then proprietor of the Dallas Maverick Mark Cuban an electronic mail asking to design the uniforms for the NBA group, Cuban advised The Put up. That they had by no means met so the chilly electronic mail was a daring transfer.
For Diddy, it was a slam dunk to affiliate his new clothes model, Sean John, with a professional sports activities group.
Whereas Diddy took credit score for the design, it was truly Diddy’s prime designer who created it and Diddy signed off, Cuban stated.
“We had been an up and coming group at a time when professional sports activities groups didn’t do something with leisure trade individuals,” Cuban stated.
“We by no means even met… we by no means did any observe up or something past that,” Cuban stated.
For Diddy — who had gone to Howard College to review enterprise — a single take care of an NBA group gave him credibility that he leveraged for much more dealmaking.
But it surely was a two-way avenue: Diddy additionally used his personal cache — the promise of entry right into a world of celeb — to draw funding for his initiatives.
The identical yr as his Mavericks deal, Diddy received Burkle, a serial investor value an estimated $2.9 billion according to Forbes, to inject $100 million into his vogue vary Sean John.
It was to grow to be Diddy’s longest-standing Wall Road relationship. After it was executed, they partied with Michael Jackson — whereas Sean John turned a fixture in Macy’s and Dillards shops.
The following yr the rapper teamed up with Estée Lauder to create a number of fragrances, together with one which was named “Unforgivable.”
The transfer gave him immediate social cache. It let him rub shoulders, lucratively, with a New York social dynasty and in flip gave their decades-old model a contemporary, up to date glamor related not simply with rap music, however his celebrity-packed White Events within the Hamptons.
The corporate was thrilled with the partnership and chief working officer William Lauder stated Diddy was a “man who has constructed an outstanding fame as a tastemaker in music, in vogue and in enterprise.”
The Lauder and Macy’s offers had been celebrated with Diddy ringing the New York Inventory Alternate’s opening bell in 2003, an indication of his energy and affect.
Analysts stated Diddy was one of many first celebrities to primarily license his identify to manufacturers — and corporations had been ready to attract on that to succeed in a extra various group of shoppers.
In 2007, he was approached by the alcohol big Diageo to grow to be a model spokesperson for its Cîroc vodka.
However he countered by proposing he grow to be model supervisor and chief advertising and marketing officer in return for a 50% revenue share — and even had the business cards made up for his new position earlier than the deal was executed.
The vodka model agreed. He missed no alternative to advertise — with the deal paying him practically $1 billion over the following 15 years and turning Cîroc right into a vastly profitable model.
The savvy negotiations led many in Hollywood to respect Diddy’s acumen. “He was a grasp entrepreneur,” one music enterprise insider — who stated the rapper was broadly revered in Hollywood as a businessman — advised The Put up.
“He was an excellent clever hardworking man and a genius at manufacturers… he turned Cîroc right into a billion greenback enterprise.”
When he rang the NYSE bell in 2016 as a consultant for Cîroc, then NYSE president Tom Farley said Diddy was “an inspiration” to him and just like the Founding Fathers since they had been each hustlers.
The feedback had been written up by Diddy’s personal information web site Revolt, which regularly reported favorably on its co-founder.
However the Diageo relationship led to rancor in 2023 with Diddy accusing the multinational of racism; the case was settled in January with Diageo now sole proprietor of Cîroc and DeLeón tequila.
In 2015, Diddy once more teamed up with Burkle and likewise with boyband heartthrob turned film star Mark Wahlberg, to purchase now defunct water firm AquaHydrate.
As soon as once more, Diddy promoted it energetically, showing on each coasts with Wahlberg.
At the least on paper, Burkle had the longest relationship with Diddy of any of his enterprise companions. He has not commented on the allegations in opposition to Diddy.
Earlier this yr Burkle, a one time shut pal of former president Invoice Clinton, was linked to a different alleged intercourse trafficker when he was listed in an unsealed court docket submitting naming individuals related to Epstein. There isn’t any suggestion Burkle engaged in wrongdoing.
Diddy additionally cast a relationship with Dalio, who in addition to founding Bridgewater, the world’s largest hedge fund, has a personal net worth of $15.4 billion, in accordance with Forbes, and has grow to be a sought-after guru for his precept of “radical transparency.”
In 2017, at a Forbes gathering for the “100 Best Dwelling Enterprise Minds,” Diddy approached Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio and began peppering him with enterprise questions.
Diddy was a frequent attender at enterprise occasions. His celeb rider included his personal drink manufacturers and “a younger Thai coconut.”
Dalio tweeted in 2019 that Diddy “requested me to mentor him” and posted a slickly-produced video of a “latest mentor session of ours.”
″[H]e’s an actual hero,” Dalio stated. “And he needs to be a task mannequin and assist others.”
“The best pleasure I’m having now could be serving to different individuals to achieve success, significantly serving to individuals who will help lots of people. Sean Combs, also called @Diddy, is one such particular person,” Dalio posted, boosting Diddy to 1.3m followers searching for monetary knowledge.
In 2021 Diddy teamed up with tech mogul Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, who Forbes estimates to be worth $10.5 billion, to launch “SHOP CIRCULATE,” a market for black-owned companies.
That very same yr he launched the same on-line market, Empower World.
“Constructing Black wealth begins with investing in Black-owned companies and giving entrepreneurs entry to the shoppers wanted to construct sustainable corporations that may thrive,” Combs stated.
He advised Billboard magazine final yr that he needs to collaborate with Byron Allen, the TV mogul, and billionaire Hollywood director Tyler Perry to create a “black-owned media conglomerate,” though neither struck any offers with him.
After Diddy was accused by his ex Cassie of rape, intercourse trafficking, and home violence final November, and settled the suit without admitting her claims, manufacturers started distancing themselves.
Macy’s, which nonetheless carried his vogue line, stated they might cease promoting his merchandise. And 18 corporations selling products on Empower are reported to have left the platform in latest months.
