SEAN COMBS — The Branding of a Superstar by Kaya Morgan

One of the hottest entertainers in popular music, Sean "Diddy" Combs, has made Fortune magazine's, "America's 40 Richest Under 40" list more than just once. Dominating the music industry, garnering dozens of awards, tailoring artists into platinum acts and traveling in the upper echelons of the entertainment industry, Combs has built a colossal empire around his most tangible asset — himself. With his penchant for furs, jewels and Cristal Champagne, this slender, soft-spoken and unfailingly polite entertainment mogul has successfully used his fame as a springboard to a rising business empire coupled with vast personal wealth. Combs estimated net worth is close to $550 million, while Time and CNN have declared him to be "One of the Most Influential Businessmen in the World."

Born in Harlem, Combs might have grown up as an inner city kid with a questionable future. However, when he was just two years old, the tragic murder of his father forced his mother, a model, to move Sean and his sister to a safer environment in Mount Vernon, New York. Mother, Janice, worked three jobs to provide the best opportunities possible for the education of her children. "She was constantly pushing me. I feel like I was nurtured into wanting to be somebody special," recalls Combs. He felt fortunate to attend Mount Vernon Montessori School and Mount St. Michael Academy, a Catholic, boys' high school which helped give him a strong character base.

While working toward his major in business administration at Howard University in Washington, D.C., he produced weekly dance parties, and ran an airport shuttle service while attending classes. Shuttling back and forth between New York City and Washington, D.C. was a challenge until at age 19, he became one of the youngest directors of A&R records, marking the beginning of one of the most successful and rapid ascents in the history of the entertainment industry.

Life turned another corner when Combs was offered an internship at Uptown Records where he met industry leader, Andre Harrell. Combs became the sculptor of many well known artists. With a natural knack for marketing, and his brilliant combination of producer and remix whiz, he helped catapult the hip-hop style of African-American music into the American mainstream.

The time was ripe in 1993 when he created a groundbreaking new company of his own, Bad Boy Entertainment. The company had unprecedented success with such hip-hop and R&B recording artists as Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Sting, Mary J. Blige, LLCool J, New Edition, Lil' Kim, Method Man, Babyface, TLC, Boyz II Men, and Aretha Franklin, bringing Combs recognition as a power producer, arranger and CEO with a natural ability for finding great talent as well as developing some of the biggest, chart-dominating hits in the music industry.

In 1996, Combs was named ASCAP's "Songwriter of the Year," and by 1997, Bad Boy Entertainment had sold nearly $100 million in recordings, and made a multimillion dollar deal with Arista records for the management of the label. Finally, in 1997, Combs launched his own album, No Way Out, which became the third best-selling LP of 1997 with more than 3.4 million copies sold.

Without question, Combs talents extend way beyond just the music industry. What started out as a venture run out of his own home has expanded not only into a multifaceted company, but also a multimillion dollar business. When discussing his many ventures, Combs clearly makes the point, "I am a very focused person." His Bad Boy ventures now include — Ciroc Vodka, Notorious magazine; Justin Combs Music Publishing, Blue Flame Marketing & Advertising, Bad Boy Productions, Janice Combs Management, Bad Boy Technologies, Bad Boy Films, Bad Boy Books, Daddy's House Studios, and Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group. Warner Music is said to have purchased 50% of Bad Boy Records (sales of $100 million) for a reported cool $30 million. His company, collectively, has annual sales of around $400 million with an employee base of over 600.

His Sean John line of men's fragrance, eyewear, and the clothing lines consisting of designer jeans and sportswear, menswear, womenswear, loungewear, underwear and boys, are all inspired by Combs diverse personal style. Nominated by the Council of Fashion Designers of America for the prestigious Perry Ellis Menswear Award numerous times, Combs admits, "I always had the idea that I would start my own apparel line, but I wanted to make sure that I had the time to devote to it."

In 2001, Combs added the film and television industry to his repertoire, making his acting debut in the Artisan comedy, Made, as well as giving a sizzling performance in the Lion's Gate feature, Monster's Ball. No surpise, his MTV reality television show, Making The Band, was another huge success for the music mogul. "This made other reality shows look like a pajama party at a monastery," said Combs.

A joint venture, partnering with Lincoln, resulted in a Limited Edition (only 100), custom SUVs — the Sean John Navigator. Priced at $85,000, they were outfitted with a Pioneer Premier Audio system with satellite radio, three DVD players, six TV monitors, Playstation 2, logo-embossed, heated/vibrating leather seats, black wood interior, tinted windows, all while displaying the Sean John logo in place of the usual Lincoln emblem. Is there anything this man hasn't thought of?

UIn 2013, his venture, REVOLT TV, has set the music industsry on it's head as the first real-time, socially connected music television network to be broadly distributed on Comcast Cable systems that will directly leverage the social media outlets to influence music culture and content for the video-centric generation. "I'm thrilled to be at the helm to usher in a completely new model of television that brings together the artist community, social media, and cutting edge technology," said Combs. Then by 2014, he added FUSE Cable TV to his expanding media network.

Far exceeding a charitable gesture, Combs has helped to create and fund innovative youth programs through his Daddy's House Social Programs that include Wall Street training teams, college visit tours for high school seniors, international travel groups, summer camp programs and internships at Bad Boy which Combs himself instructs. He has donated well over $1 million dollars to his former alma mater, Howard University, for African-American youth studies, donated more than 100 computers to 500 New York City public schools, and his Daddy's House charity sponsors a "Hungry and Homeless" Thanksgiving Day dinner for more than 30,000 people in Atlanta, Georgia.

When musing on his life thus far, he says, "What I'm most concerned about is finding inner peace and happiness. All that glitters isn't gold. And, there are things better than gold — like having a meaningful conversation, seeing your kids healthy and smiling, and getting along with your mother." Combs has a lot of things going for him: an iconic status, a heroic stance and a massive following where celebrity counts. Is it any wonder, with such innate talent, that everything this man touches does turn to gold.

For more information, go to BadBoyOnline.com.

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