Correction: This video incorrectly states the date of the federal agents’ raids of Sean Combs' homes as April 2023. The raids took place in March of 2024.
Sean Combs was once on a glide path to becoming a billionaire. But as sexual assault allegations and civil lawsuits mount, business partners have fled and his brands have become increasingly worthless. And the worst news may be yet to come.
Given the severity of those civil cases and a looming federal investigation reportedly into human trafficking, Combs now faces an existential threat to his freedom and his fortune.
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2024/06/21/inside-the-rubble-of-diddys-empire/
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Sean Combs was once on a glide path to becoming a billionaire. But as sexual assault allegations and civil lawsuits mount, business partners have fled and his brands have become increasingly worthless. And the worst news may be yet to come.
Given the severity of those civil cases and a looming federal investigation reportedly into human trafficking, Combs now faces an existential threat to his freedom and his fortune.
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2024/06/21/inside-the-rubble-of-diddys-empire/
Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
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Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.
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00:00Sean Combs was once on a glide path to becoming a billionaire, but as sexual assault allegations,
00:08which Combs has denied, continue to mount, business partners have fled, and his brands
00:13have become increasingly worthless.
00:16And the worst news may be yet to come.
00:19As he rose in the music world, Combs famously projected confidence wherever he went, starting
00:25with his ascent from Uptown Records intern to founding Bad Boy Records in 1992.
00:31From there, Combs was behind some of hip-hop's most legendary history, stoking the famed
00:37East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry, producing the posthumous number three billboard-hitting
00:41release of the notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die, signing Biggie's widow Faith Evans
00:47along with other stars like Mase and later Machine Gun Kelly and Janelle Monae.
00:52And hip-hop was just the beginning.
00:55Over the past two decades, he expanded his business across several lifestyle categories,
01:00including the Sean John Fashion and Fragrance lines, a wildly successful Ciroc Vodka partnership
01:05with British Spirits conglomerate Diageo, and founding the Revolt TV network.
01:11Over that period, he earned nearly a billion dollars.
01:14In 2019, Forbes estimated Combs' personal wealth at $740 million.
01:21Both Combs and his team later claimed that he was a billionaire, despite offering no
01:25documentation to back up the claim.
01:28Forbes now conservatively estimates he is worth $400 million.
01:33Combs and his representatives did not respond to requests for comment on Forbes' net worth
01:37estimate, or any questions pertaining to the abuse allegations, which he has categorically
01:42denied.
01:47In April 2023, federal agents raided his homes in Miami and Los Angeles as part of a sex
01:53trafficking probe, according to several news organizations.
01:57It is unclear if Combs is the target of that investigation.
02:02Last November, his ex-girlfriend and former Bad Boy artist Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit
02:07accusing him of rape, sexual assault, and beatings that went on for more than a decade.
02:14Combs and Ventura settled her lawsuit the day after it was filed.
02:18Combs said the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.
02:22The same month that Ventura filed her lawsuit, two more women came forward and filed lawsuits
02:27under New York's Adult Survivors Act, accusing Combs of sexual abuse, beatings, and forced
02:33druggings.
02:35Four additional suits by individual plaintiffs accusing Combs of sexual assault, forced sexual
02:39encounters, and forced druggings were filed in New York between December 2023 and May
02:452024, including one from Combs' former producer, Rodney Lowrod Jones.
02:52Combs meanwhile was pursuing his own legal action against Diageo.
02:56A June 2023 lawsuit filed by Combs alleged that his Ciroc and De Leon brands were not
03:02given the same marketing, production, and distribution resources as its other brands
03:07like Don Julio and Casamigos Tequilas.
03:11The arrangement between Diageo and Combs was once viewed as a resounding success in the
03:15industry, with Combs earning $66 million annually on average from 2007 through its termination
03:22in 2023.
03:24But sales of Ciroc declined nearly 24% by volume from 2014 through 2022.
03:30A 2023 filing by Diageo reveals that Combs was paid $200 million for his equity in De
03:37Leon in exchange for ending his lawsuit and their partnership.
03:42After the dissolution of his partnership with Diageo, Combs' last remaining business
03:46asset was his equity stake in Revolt TV, the network he founded in 2012 to showcase creators
03:52in hip-hop and youth culture.
03:55In early June, as news of the sexual assault lawsuits continued making headlines, Combs
04:00sold back his stake in Revolt, and the company will hand his shares over to employees.
04:05Without Diageo and Revolt, Forbes estimates that Combs has approximately $200 million
04:10in cash.
04:11His Sean John fashion line, which once racked up more than $400 million in annual sales,
04:17has been dumped by Macy's, and his eyewear brand has been booted from opticians, rendering
04:22it virtually worthless.
04:24Despite Combs' impressive real estate portfolio, including two Miami homes and an L.A. compound,
04:30around half of its actual value is tied up in mortgages.
04:34His Bad Boy music catalog, which Forbes once estimated as high as $125 million, would likely
04:40fetch a much lower price these days, and his prospects look grim in the near future.
04:46The six civil lawsuits against him alleging sexual assault will play out along with the
04:51federal government's investigation.
04:54Given the severity of potential federal charges, Combs would face enormous financial penalties
04:59and a long prison sentence.
05:03Combs has not been criminally charged.
05:07Combs' former Manhattan headquarters for Bad Boy Worldwide is now just a pile of rubble.
05:12And much like his former corporate castle, the 54-year-old hip-hop mogul's empire has
05:16crumbled along with it.