Newsletter Wednesday, October 9
  • Sean Combs was once one of the world’s top-earning entertainers and had diverse income streams.
  • In the last year, many of those have dried up — leaving him with few ways to make money.
  • Here is where the business of Diddy stands today.

Not too long ago, Sean Combs was one of the top-earning people in the music industry.

Now the hip-hop star, who’s been accused of sexual assault and charged with sex trafficking, has lost many of his lucrative income streams.

For years, Diddy appeared to have perfected the art of diversified revenue. He got a payout from selling a stake in the clothing company Sean John; he received nearly $1 billion from a partnership with Diageo on Cîroc vodka and DeLeón tequila, and he even had earnings from an alkaline water company. On top of that, he received a steady income from his catalog of hits and those produced by his Bad Boy artists. In fact, in 2017, he had pretax earnings of $130 million, topping Forbes’ list of highest-paid celebrities.

But over the last year — since Cassandra Ventura first accused him of rape and abuse in November 2023 — those once-lucrative revenue streams have dried up. The business empire of Combs, which was once valued as high as $820 million, per Forbes, has crumbled. He’s left with a handful of non-money-generating assets and few prospects.

“There are so many lost opportunities,” Clayton Durant, adjunct music business professor at Long Island University’s Roc Nation School of Music, Sports & Entertainment, told Business Insider. “There is no way a brand is touching Diddy — probably forever.”

Of course, Combs, who has denied any wrongdoing, is by no means poor. He still owns multiple homes — two on Miami’s Star Island and one in Los Angeles — worth more than $125 million combined. He also has a private jet and an art collection worth millions.

But depending on how the civil cases against him end up, he may have to give up those to pay lawyer fees and settlements. He’s already trying to liquidate his assets, putting his LA home up for sale last month, and, per his lawyer, his jet, too.

“It feels like he left a lot of money on the table,” Anthony Martini, the founder of management company and record label Gravel Road, told Business Insider.

Combs’ lawyer did not respond to a request for comment from BI prior to publication.

Here’s where Combs’ business stands now.



Read the full article here

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