Diddy, anticipating arrest, paid off mortgage on $48.5 million Miami mansion

A grand jury indicted Combs on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and illegal transportation of persons for sex. He pleaded not guilty.

Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo, proposed a $50 million bond package backed by the Miami home and offered six passports — Combs’s and five family members’ — to prove he was not a flight risk.

Combs was ultimately denied bail on Wednesday and was sent to jail ahead of his criminal trial. The judge said he could try to flee, commit acts of violence or interfere with the investigation into the allegations against him.

Still, the proposed bond package offers a glimpse into Combs’ lavish lifestyle.

The proposed bond package was backed primarily by the singer’s Star Island home, which his lawyers said was worth $48.6 million. Combs also offered the equity in his mother’s Miami home as collateral, according to court documents.

Combs’ legal team cited a third-party appraisal dated June 28, 2022, which valued his home, called Two Star and located at 2 Star Island Drive, at $48.5 million.

According to the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser website, the property’s market value is $44.3 million, while the assessed value is $30.4 million as of 2024. He bought the home for 14 .5 million dollars in 2003.

The home has seven bedrooms and two bathrooms on about 14,800 square feet, according to the appraisal report. It has several pools and a spa, as well as a pool house with cabanas.

The legal team also noted that Combs paid off the $18.8 million mortgage on the Star Island home in August, anticipating the criminal charges.

In court, Agnifilo called it a “terrible business decision” made “because we knew this day would come.”

“We paid the mortgage because it’s about building trust,” Agnifilo said. “And we did these things to build trust in a real, substantial sense. There’s nothing about it as a show. Nobody makes bad financial decisions just for a show. It was important. And I told him this is a important thing to do.”

Star Island has many wealthy residents

Star Island, an exclusive neighborhood on Biscayne Bay that is part of Miami Beach, has other famous residents.

Billionaire Ken Griffin bought a property on Star Island for $75 million in 2022 – the most expensive of several properties he owns on the island. Griffin also sold a lot on Star Island to former baseball player Alex Rodriguez for $18.5 million, then bought it back for $45.5 million a year later.

The oval-shaped island is only 55 acres and has less than 50 houses arranged around a single central ring road.

Other homes on the island are going for even more than Combs’ $48.5 million home was assessed for.

A 10-bedroom home was listed for $68 million in August 2023. It sold for $57 million the following month.

Combs also owns the property next door at 1 Star Island Drive, which she purchased in 2021 from husband-and-wife singers Gloria and Emilio Estefan for $35 million. The valuation provided to the court includes the $35 million purchase near Combs as a comparable sale and several other transactions on and off the island. That house was not part of the proposed package.

Combs has built a large fortune over his 3-decade career

Over his three-decade career, Combs amassed a fortune that has been pegged at a billion dollars.

At its peak in the late 1990s, Bad Boy Records brought in nine figures annually — enough to negotiate a $55 million advance from its label partner, Forbes reported in 1999.

Outside of music, he founded or helped market a number of businesses, including the Sean John clothing brand, Cîroc vodka, and DeLeón tequila.

As a brand ambassador for Cîroc, Combs negotiated a deal where he was paid per sale. According to court filings, Combs earned nearly $1 billion during his 15-year partnership with Diageo, the parent company of Cîroc and DeLeón.

He cashed in on Sean John in 2016, selling his stake in the business for about $70 million, Forbes reported at the time.

The money afforded Combs a lifestyle he often bragged about.

In addition to the Star Island home, he owns a mansion in Los Angeles that he recently put on the market for $61.5 million.

He also has a private jet, called LoveAir, which he is trying to sell, according to his lawyer, as well as a jewelry collection full of diamonds and watches, as well as an art collection that includes works by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

That wealth came with enormous power, which prosecutors said he used to orchestrate his crimes.

“Combs and other members and associates of the Combs Enterprise exercised the power and prestige of Combs’ role at the Combs Business to intimidate, threaten and lure female victims into Combs’ orbit,” the indictment states.