P.Diddy Reigns Supreme As Forbes Releases Hip-Hop's Wealthiest Artists In 2015

Last May, Dr. Dre sold his headphone line 'beats by dre' to Apple, and the super-producer proclaimed himself: 'rap’s first billionaire' in a video clip that went viral. In a new rich list released by FORBES, Dre is no longer the richest man in hip-hop; that honor now goes to P.Diddy, who clocks in at $735 million. The news may come as a surprise to many, but while Dre’s wealth derived from a single jackpot idea, Diddy’s the product of his interests in a handful of companies.


#1. Sean 'P.Diddy' Combs - $735 Million
Diddy has a deal with Diageo ’s Ciroc vodka that guarantees him a split of the proceeds if the brand is ever sold, an event that would surely land him a nine-figure check. He also owns a controlling stake, or close to it, in clothing lines Sean John and Enyce, alkaline water brand Aquahydrate, new tequila DeLeon and multimedia network Revolt. Diddy founded the latter as a sort of next generation MTV with a renewed focus on music.

#2. Dr. Dre - $700 Million
Dr. Dre ranked second on last year’s Forbes Five list of hip-hop’s wealthiest artists with a net worth of $550 million, a year later after selling Beats to Apple for $3.5 billion, which left Dre with a $500 million payout for his Beats stake. That total, along with proceeds from the sale of his Hollywood Hills home, lifted his total to $700 million this year.

#3. Jay Z - $550 Million
Jay Z, who ranks third with a fortune of $550 million, purchased and relaunched Scandinavian streaming service Tidal this year with promises of creating an artist-owned Spotify competitor set apart by exclusive content. Though the star-studded rollout struck some as tonedeaf—prompting a flurry of rich-getting-richer criticism, and perhaps a change in strategy for Jay Z—Tidal is still early in its life as a company, and may yet prove to be an increasingly valuable asset to Jay Z and to the whole industry.

#4. 50 Cent - $155 Million
50 Cent is 4th on the list with a $155 million fortune. He is still enjoying the fruits of his $100 million payday for the sale of Vitaminwater in 2007—and trying repeat the feat with stakes in the likes of SMS headphones, Effen vodka and Frigo underwear. The latter is a joint venture with baseball legend Derek Jeter, NBA star Carmelo Anthony and Mathias Ingvarsson, founder of NASA science-backed mattress purveyor Tempur-Pedic. Such a shift on a larger scale could well improve 50 Cent’s total in time for next year’s list.

#5. Birdman - $150 Million
Birdman round off the list of five, with fortune of  $150 million. His total dipped slightly due to uncertainty surrounding Cash Money Records, by far his biggest asset, which has been dogged by rumors of the departure of big acts including superstar Lil Wayne.