Sean Combs

Sean John Combs was born on November 4, 1969, in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Raised in Mount Vernon, New York, his mother Janice Combs (née Smalls) was a model and teacher's assistant, and his father, Melvin Earl Combs, served in the U.S. Air Force and was an associate of convicted New York drug dealer Frank Lucas. At age 33, Melvin was shot dead while sitting in his car on Central Park West, when Combs was two years old. Combs has a sister, and grew up in poverty. Combs was raised Catholic and served as an altar boy. He graduated from Mount Saint Michael Academy, an all-boys Catholic school, in 1987. He played football for the academy, and his team won a division title in 1986. Combs said he was given the nickname "Puff" as a child, because he would "huff and puff" when he was angry. Combs was a business major at Howard University, but left after his second year.Fortune magazine listed Combs at number 12 on their top 40 of entrepreneurs under 40 in 2002. Forbes magazine estimated that for the year ending May 2017, Combs earned $130 million, ranking him number one among entertainers. He is one of the wealthiest musical artists, with an estimated net worth of US$1 billion by 2022.