14 DAY TRIAL // Puff Daddy, the man who has recently ditched his last alias P Diddy and returned to his original moniker, has just landed at the top of the Forbes list of the top five wealthiest artists in hip-hop for this year.
According to the website, Puff Daddy here is worth a whopping $700 million (€505.9 million) thanks to his many ventures that are extended beyond the hip-hop music he makes. Real name Sean Combs, Puffy has made a name for himself as a top-earning entrepreneur, who has his fingers in many pies, such as fashion, television and alcoholic drinks.
For those that don't know, Puff Daddy has made a lot of money with his cable TV network called Revolt TV, as well as his Ciroc label vodka, not to mention the Sean John clothing line. As you can see, Puffy is good in many areas and his boasts that “he's all ‘bout the Benjamins” are well founded in reality.
With his several hundred million dollars that have put him well on his way to earning his first billion dollars, Sean Combs has managed to overtake several other big names in the hip-hop industry that have reigned supreme in previous years in the top of best earners.
For example, second on that list this year was hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre, with an estimated fortune of $550 million (€397.5 million). Apart from his musical ventures, Dre has also made a pretty penny with his Beats by Dre headphones that are ubiquitous among the young demographic these days.
Next, we have Jay Z on the list, a man that was widely believed to be the richest figure in hip-hop for many years. It looks like Beyonce's husband has managed only $520 million (€375.8 million) this year, the majority of which came from streaming revenue.
He has sold his previously successful Roacwear label for over two hundred million dollars back in 2007 but has kept earning big money through his tours, album sales and a recent foray into sports representation with his company Roc Nation Sports.
The top five is completed by Bryan “Birdman” Williams and Curtis Jackson, known to the common folk as “50 Cent.” Jackson has invested heavily in products outside the music industry and has thus amassed a fortune that is reportedly worth $140 million (€101.1 million).
After a brief glance at the top earning men of the industry, it's clear that those with outside ventures of the hip-hop industry are more successful and manage to bring in more millions than those that simply follow the musical path.