Sean “Diddy” Combs was once tipped to become one of “hip-hop’s next billionaires” with a sprawling empire worth $740 million.
But since the music mogul was arrested in September 2024 on charges of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy – all of which he denies – his net worth, while still high, dropped to an estimated $400 million, according to Forbes.
In 2019, the financial outlet lauded Combs as one of the top 5 richest rappers through his various holdings, including vodka brand Ciroc, Revolt cable network and his clothing line.
With Combs’s sex-trafficking trial underway in New York, the rapper’s fate lies with the jury. Combs has denied any accusations of wrongdoing.
If they find Combs guilty of all charges, he will likely have to wave goodbye to most of his wealth.
Government taking ‘aggressive approach’ in attempts to seize Combs’s assets
Combs is fighting forfeiture action from the Justice Department, with prosecutors arguing that he used his business enterprises to facilitate and cover up his alleged criminal activities.
“If prosecutors can prove that any of Mr. Combs’s assets were used to commit crimes he's charged with or were obtained as a result of criminal activity, those assets can be subject to forfeiture,” Kevin McMunigal, former federal prosecutor and criminal law professor at Ohio’s Case Western Reserve University, told The Independent.
Combs’s lawyers have taken the significant step of hiring Stefan Cassella, former deputy chief of the Justice Department’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, to fight the forfeiture action, according to USA Today.
Cassella told the outlet that the government was taking an “aggressive approach” in seizing as many of Combs’s assets as possible under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
“RICO forfeiture is intended to be very broad, and so it has significant consequences,” Cassella told the outlet. “So, it's going to boil down to what they can prove was part of the enterprise.”
If convicted, it will be up to the jury to decide how much of Combs’s assets are subject to forfeiture, legal experts said.
Prosecutors set out Combs’s empire in the indictment
Combs’s expansive business empire is set out in the indictment against him as prosecutors seek to tie his companies to the alleged crimes.
“The defendant operated his business, headquartered at various times in Manhattan and Los Angeles, under a variety of United States-based corporate entities, including Bad Boy Entertainment, Combs Enterprises, and Combs Global (collectively the ‘Combs Business’),” prosecutors said.
“Corporate entities in the Combs Business included, among other things, record labels, a recording studio, an apparel line, an alcoholic spirits business, a marketing agency, and a television network and media company,” the indictment adds.
Prosecutors accuse “the Combs Enterprise” of being a “criminal organization.”
“Members and associates of the Combs Enterprise engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other activities, sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice,” the indictment says.
If the prosecution proves that the businesses were connected to the alleged criminal activity, anything forfeited after a conviction could be used to support alleged victims.
Private jets, cars, and real estate
In addition to his business empire, prosecutors appear to be targeting Combs’s personal assets.
“They’ve written a very broadly worded forfeiture allegation,” James Trusty, former chief of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, said of the prosecution in an interview with USA Today. “It’s so vague and so broad that I would think the defense would push for a bill of particulars.”
Prosecutors have Combs’s real estate holdings, cars and jets in their sights, the outlet reports.
The most valuable possession Combs owns is his Los Angeles mansion in Holmby Hills, currently for sale at $61.5 million. It was one of two properties raided by the FBI in March last year and has been on the market since last September.
His Miami Beach home on the exclusive Star Island, worth $48 million, was also raided last year.
Combs also owns a 20-seat black Gulfstream Aerospace G550 private jet, valued at more than $25 million, which he has been renting out while awaiting trial, and at one point owned a fleet of luxury cars worth millions.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and continues to maintain his innocence.
