Back in 1999, Sean Combs–known as Puff Daddy at the time–appeared on the cover of the first-ever Celebrity 100 issue. Instead of sporting a snappy suit (as this year’s cover star The Weeknd did), Combs donned a t-shirt bearing the logo of his new clothing line, Sean John, for the cover shoot.
Nearly two decades later, that sort of in-your-face marketing has paid off: Combs, now better known as Diddy, tops this year’s Celebrity 100 list with pretax earnings of $130 million, a career best. Today he sits atop an empire that includes a lucrative partnership with Diageo’s Ciroc vodka and hefty stakes in companies including Revolt TV, DeLeón tequila and Aquahydrate alkaline water.
But the bulk of Diddy’s 12-month haul came from the estimated $70 million he pocketed when Global Brands Group bought a majority stake in Sean John last November. The deal left him with a reported 20% of the company he founded and grew into an international brand that now does nearly half a billion dollars in annual sales.
“When we started Sean John, it was my dream to build it into an aspirational brand for the young consumer,â€Â said Diddy at the time of the deal. “Our new partnership … provides us the opportunity to reach the Millennial customer on a global level.â€
