P Diddy Net Worth

What is Diddy's Net Worth?

P. Diddy, AKA Puff Daddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, entrepreneur and designer who has a net worth of $900 million. Diddy is best known for his record label Bad Boy Entertainment, in addition to his own solo musical and entrepreneurial pursuits. As a music executive, he launched, or shaped, the careers of numerous artists, including The Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, and Faith Evans, and produced tracks for Usher, Lil' Kim, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, and TLC, among many others. In the late 90s, he released the first of multiple successful rap albums, and won his first Grammy for Best Rap Album. Throughout the 90s and early 2000s, he continued to churn out albums and win awards. Though his tracks were popular on the radio and with fans, there were a number of hip hop artists who criticized his continual use of samples and guest performers. While his music made headlines, his personal life also proved to be newsworthy, as he was involved in multiple altercations, including a shoot-out at a club, and dated a number of high profile women, including Jennifer Lopez. Along the way, he also launched multiple successful clothing lines, two reality shows, a successful liquor brand, a media company and a moderately successful acting career.

Diddy is one of the highest-paid and richest celebrities in the world and has been for two decades+. In a given recent year he earns $50 – $100 million. Between 2000 and 2020 he has earned well over $1 billion from his sprawling business empire that includes music royalties and investments in brands like Ciroq vodka. He also owns a stake in DeLeon tequila and an alkaline water brand called Aquahydrate.

Combs has been involved in the liquor industry since 2007, when he entered into an equal partnership with Diageo to market and promote Ciroc Vodka. The partnership was a success, and Ciroc became one of the most popular vodka brands in the world. In 2013, Combs and Diageo co-purchased the DeLeon tequila brand. DeLeon is a premium tequila that is made from 100% Blue Agave. The brand has been well-received by critics and consumers alike. According to a legal filing made in June 2023 in the wake of a lawsuit filed by Diddy against Diageo, in the years between 2007 and 2023 Diageo paid Diddy $1 billion for his work with the company. That amount would presumably be an order of magnitude more than he made from his music career.

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Sean John Combs was born in Harlem, New York City, on November 4, 1969. He spent his childhood in a housing project in Harlem. His father, Melvin Combs, was an associate of convicted drug dealer Frank Lucas. Melvin was shot and killed when Sean was three years old. After his father was shot, the family moved to Mount Vernon, New York.

That decision changed the trajectory of Sean's life. In his old neighborhood it was all too common for boys to drop out of school and join a gang. In his new neighborhood, Sean ended up graduating from the prestigious Mount Saint Michael Academy. He then enrolled at Howard University in Washington D.C. to study business.

While a student at Howard, Diddy got an unpaid internship at Uptown Records in New York City. He got the job through rapper Heavy D, who he knew from Mount Vernon. Diddy rearranged his class schedule at Howard so that he could commute to New York City via train a few days a week for his internship and still attend class in Washington D.C. Diddy got up at 5am every Thursday and boarded a train to New York so that he would be at work by 10am. He then traveled back to DC on Friday night to promote parties all weekend. By his sophomore year at Howard, he realized he was more interested in his career goals than his education. He dropped out of Howard and took a full time position at Uptown Records. Within two years, he was Vice President of Uptown Records. He was just 22 years old.

While at Uptown, he helped develop artists such as Jodeci and Mary J. Blige. After being fired from Uptown in 1993, Combs established his own label Bad Boy Entertainment as a joint venture with Arista Records.

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Bad Boy Records

In 1991 he had a major career setback. He promoted a celebrity basketball game to raise money for AIDS. It was going to take place in the gym of the City College of New York. A number of popular artists were slated to play. The event was way oversold. People with tickets were literally banging on the doors of the gymnasium to get in. There ended up being a stampeded that killed nine people and seriously injured 29. No criminal charges were filed. Diddy ended up paying the victims an undisclosed sum. He was subsequently fired from Uptown Records.

In 1994, Diddy launched his own label, Bad Boy Records. Soon thereafter up-and-coming rapper The Notorious B.I.G., defected from Uptown to Bad Boy. The Notorious B.I.G. and Craig Mack both released hit singles with Bad Boy, and Combs quickly signed other acts such as Carl Thomas, Faith Evans, 112, Total, and Father MC. He also formed an in-house production team known as The Hitmen, who worked with artists like Jodeci, Usher, Lil' Kim, TLC, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, and Aretha Franklin. During the mid-1990s, a widely publicized rivalry brewed between Bad Boy and Death Row Records on the West Coast. In particular, both Combs and The Notorious B.I.G. were criticized and parodied by rapper Tupac Shakur.

In addition to his successful career as a record executive and producer, Combs has also enjoyed a lucrative solo music career as a recording artist himself. Under the name Puff Daddy, Combs recorded his first commercial work as a rapper in 1997. His debut single "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and stayed on the chart for 28 weeks. He followed this up with his debut studio album "No Way Out" in July 2017. It was originally supposed to be titled "Hell up in Harlem," but he made several changes after The Notorious B.I.G. was killed in March that year. The album was a resounding success, earning Combs five Grammy nominations in 1998, and winning the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. He has released three more albums: "Forever" (1999), "The Saga Continues…" (2001), and "Press Play" (2006). Diddy announced a new album for 2023 and has released two singles from it, "Gotta Move On" and "Sex in the Porsche."

In 2001 Combs changed his stage name from "Puff Daddy" to "P. Diddy," and in 2005 he announced another name change to just "Diddy." London-based artist Richard Dearlove, who had been performing under the name "Diddy" since 1992, sought an injunction against Combs in the High Court of Justice in London in November 2005. Dearlove accepted an out-of-court settlement of £10,000 in damages and more than £100,000 in costs, and Combs cannot use the name "Diddy" in the UK, so he remains known there as "P. Diddy."

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(Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)

Other Projects and Ventures

In addition to his music career, Combs has also enjoyed a successful acting career. He has appeared in films such as "Made" (2001), "A Raisin in the Sun" (2008), "Get Him to the Greek" (2010), "Draft Day" (2014) and "The Defiant Ones" (2017). He was executive producer of reality TV show "Making the Band," which aired on MTV from 2002 to 2009, and also had a brief stint of his own in reality television with the 2008 VH1 series "I Want to Work for Diddy."

Combs also is a successful businessman. He started a clothing line "Sean John" in 1998, which won the CFDA award for Menswear Designer of the Year in 2004. He is also the head of Combs Enterprises, which is the umbrella company for his business portfolio. In addition to his clothing line, Combs helped develop the Ciroc vodka brand for 50 percent of the profits, has a major equity stake in Revolt TV, and purchased a majority holding in beverage company Aquahydrate in partnership with actor Mark Wahlberg and businessman Ronald Burkle.

In 2019, Diddy became a major investor in PlayVS who provides infrastructure for competitive gaming in high schools throughout the United States.

Personal Life

Combs is the father of seven children. His first biological child was born in 1993 to designer Misa Hylton-Brim. He had an on-again off-again relationship with Kimberly Porter from 1994 to 2007. Together, they had a son and twin daughters, and Combs also adopted Porter's son from a previous relationship. Porter passed away from pneumonia in November 2018. Combs also has a daughter with Sarah Chapman, who he took legal responsibility for in October 2007. Diddy was in a long-term relationship with Cassie Ventura from 2007 to 2018. His seventh child, a daughter, was born in October 2022 to Dana Tran.

Combs has had multiple run-ins with the law. In December 1999, while out at Club New York in Manhattan with then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, gunfire broke out. Combs and fellow rapper Shyne were arrested following a police investigation for weapons violations. Combs was eventually charged with four weapons-related charges and bribing his driver to claim ownership of his gun, and underwent a highly publicized trial. He was also arrested for driving on a suspended license in Florida in 2001.

(Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

Real Estate

In 1998, Diddy paid $2.45 million a home in East Hampton. This is where he would hold his famous White Party. He rented this home at times for as much as $200,000 per month. He sold this property in 2020 for $4.7 million.

In 2004 Diddy paid $4 million for a 3.5-acre estate property in Alpine, New Jersey. His listed this home in 2007 for $9 million but did not get any takers. He finally offloaded this property in 2016 for $5.5 million.

In September 2014 Diddy paid $39 million for 17,000 square-foot mansion in the exclusive LA neighborhood of Holmby Hills. The home was built on spec by developer Nile Niami. Diddy's Beverly Hills mansion has a pool that features an underwater tunnel that connects to a grotto. It also features a 35-seat movie theater, steam room, massage room, beauty salon and wine room. The house is not far from the Playboy Mansion.

In 2009 Diddy paid $5.25 million for a home for Kim Porter, with whom he had several children. Tragically, Kim died in 2018. He sold the Toluca Lake home in 2022 for $6.5 million.

In August 2021 Diddy paid $35 million for a home on Miami's Star Island that was being sold Gloria and Emilio Estefan. The home sits on 1.3 acres of land and has 240 feet of water frontage. Diddy has owned the property next door since 2003. Here's the mansion he bought in 2021:

In 2003 Diddy paid $3.82 million for a three-bedroom New York City apartment. He sold this property in 2017 for $5.7 million.