How Diddy Made Money Off Student Protests When He Was in College
Before he was the hip-hop record executive known as Puff Daddy, Sean “Diddy” Combs was a student at Howard University in the late 1980s. When Howard students began protesting the administration, Diddy jumped into action — not to contribute to the protests himself, but to find a way to make money from the demonstrations.
Diddy went to college during a tumultuous time for Howard University
In 1989, Howard University students advocated for Howard removing Republican strategist Lee Atwater from the university’s Board of Trustees. The protests escalated into a dramatic confrontation between hundreds of students and 100 District of Columbia riot police officers decked out in riot gear.
Ultimately, the university met the students’ demands. Atwater resigned from the Board of Trustees in March 1989.
Diddy made money off the student protests
Diddy started out at Howard in 1987, and was a sophomore when the on-campus protests broke out. But rather than watch from the sidelines or get involved himself, Diddy had other plans.
“For Combs, the student protests in the spring of ’89 presented an opportunity to unite the student body — and put some money in his pockets at the same time,” the 2022 book It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World That Made Him described. “Combs took images from the protests — photos of students and police clashing, and students being whisked away — and printed up some posters.”
Future producer and coworker of Diddy’s Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie was at Howard at the same time as Diddy and saw how he made a quick buck from the protests. In the 2003 Notorious B.I.G. biography Unbelievable, he spoke about Diddy’s photo enterprise during the protests.
“He made hundreds of them, and sold them for ten and fifteen dollars a piece,” Angelettie said. “That’s the type of n**** I saw. All this protest s*** is well and good, but who’s getting paid off of it? He was ready.”
He rallied Howard students in 2009
In 2009, after he had become one of the most profitable names in hip-hop, Diddy voiced his support for Howard students as they protested over financial aid and housing discrepancies.
“NO JUSTICE! NO PEACE!!! Let me know if ya’ll need me to come down there ya’ll! I got ya’ll BACK! Let’s go!!!” he wrote in a tweet.
He alluded to the protests in 1989 and encouraged the protesting students to follow their example from back in the day. “Do what we did and take IT OVER!!!! Let’s go! And do it in a peaceful way but DO IT!!” he said. “If your [sic] at HU go to the A building now and make sure they feel you!!! And send me updates!!! Let’s go!”
Diddy gave the commencement speech at Howard in 2014
In 2014, Diddy returned to Howard to deliver the university’s commencement speech and receive an honorary doctorate degree in humanities from the historically Black university.
During the speech, Diddy imparted his wisdom on the graduating class, delivering honest truths like “No one takes you to the front of the line unless you take yourself to the front.”
Diddy’s net worth in 2022
Diddy has come a long way from selling photos of the Howard protests. In the decades since then, the Bad Boy Records founder has expanded his empire far beyond music, becoming the second-richest man in hip-hop (behind Jay-Z) and only one of two billionaires in rap. Today, Diddy is in charge of brands like Cîroc vodka and Deleon tequila.
As of 2022, Diddy is worth approximately $1 billion, trailing behind Jay-Z at $1.5 billion. The rapper formerly known as Kanye West was once a part of the billionaire rapper club, but his net worth was decimated in 2022 following the termination of lucrative business deals after he made antisemitic comments.
