How Puff Diddy Amassed His $855 Million Net Worth

Sean "Puff Diddy" Combs is more than just a rapper. He's a very prominent businessman who has built his amazing fortune through stakes in brands like Ciroc Vodka, his brand Sean John clothing line, DeLeon tequila, Aquahydrate water, and other sponsorships and endorsement deals. Diddy is the embodiment of the true American Dream that we often hear about. He was born in the housing project. His father was a murdered drug pusher. Despite all that, today Puffy is a high earning mogul with a net worth of approximately $855 million. He is a great example of how far you can go if you set your mind on your dream and work hard to make it happen by all means.

Sean John Combs was born on November 4, 1969 in New York City. He grew up in a housing project in the notorious city of Harlem. His father, Melvin Combs, was an associate of the infamous convicted drug dealer Frank Lucas. Melvin was shot and killed when Puffy was just three years old. His mother was a teacher's assistant and model and she immediately packed all their belongings up and moved the family to suburban Mount Vernon, New York. That decision changed the trajectory of Sean's life forever. In his old neighborhood it was just a common norm for boys to drop out of school and join gangs. In his new neighborhood, Puffy 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 gig 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 travel to New York City via train a few days to take care of 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 atleast. He then commuted back to DC on Friday night to promote parties all weekend and partying. By his sophomore year at Howard, he realized he was more interested in his career goals than his education. He  then later dropped out of Howard and took on a full time position at Uptown Records.

Puff Diddy was then quickly promoted from an intern position to A&R, due to his ability for finding  new and hot talent out there. He was then promoted to talent director and started to gain a reputation for his work developing artists from the ground including big names such as Mary J. Blige and Jodeci. Within the space of two years, Puff Diddy was the Vice President of Uptown Records. At the time Diddy was just 22 years old.

Diddy was balling. Then in 1991, he had a major career setback. He promoted a celebrity basketball game to gather 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 scheduled to play at the event. The event was way too oversold. People with tickets were surprisingly the ones hitting on the doors of the gymnasium to gain entrance forcefully. As a result a stampede that killed nine people and seriously injured 29 occurred. No criminal charges were filed. Puff Diddy ended up paying all the affected victims an undisclosed amount of cash. He was subsequently fired from Uptown Records.

In 1994, Puff Diddy still at his prime decided to start his own record label, Bad Boy Records. The Notorious B.I.G. and other artists left from Uptown Records to Puffy's new record label. It wasn't long before more established artists began seeking out Bad Boy Records and reaching out. Over the first few years of his label, Diddy produced tracks for Lil' Kim, Ma$e, The Notorious B.I.G., Mariah Carey, Mary J . Blige, Jodeci, Aretha Franklin and others.

In 1997, Diddy released his first album under the moniker Puff Daddy, his childhood nickname. His first single, Can't Nobody Hold Me Down, went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut album, No Way Out, went to number one during its first week of release. That album won a Grammy in the year 1998 for Best Rap Album.

Then, in 1999, Diddy had another setback. He was charged with second-degree assault and criminal mischief after physically assaulting a record executive at Interscope records during a disagreement about the airing of a music video. Later that year, he was arrested for weapons violations and charges in relation to a shooting at a New York City nightclub that he was attending with his then girlfriend Jennifer Lopez.  The charges against him were later dropped, but the highly publicized trial would continue to follow him for the next few years.

Diddy changed his name to P. Diddy in the late 90s and then just to Diddy. He also started to act on television and appeared in co-starring roles in s film and television projects such as Monster's Ball, Get Him to the Greek, Carlito's Way: Rise to Power, A Raisin in the Sun, Hawaii Five-O, CSI: Miami, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Diddy also has an extremely lucrative deal with the owners of the premium Ciroc Vodka which entitles him a large percentage of profits every year in addition to a huge payout guarantee if the company is ever sold for more than $1 billion... Surely Puffy knows a good deal when he come across one.