Diddy, anticipating his arrest, paid off the mortgage on his $48.5 million mansion
Homeland Security Investigation agents raided Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Miami mansion earlier this year.
New details about Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Miami mansion were uncovered as part of his bond hearing this week.
In March, the feds raided the hip-hop mogul’s Star Island house, where they say they found supplies, including narcotics, baby oil, and lubricant, for “Freak Offs” — elaborate performances between female victims and male commercial sex workers that prosecutors allege Diddy arranged and filmed.
A grand jury indicted Combs on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and illegal transportation of people for sex. He has pleaded not guilty.
Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, had proposed a $50 million bond package, backed by the Miami home, and offered up six passports — that of Combs and five family members — to prove he wasn’t a flight risk.
Combs was ultimately denied bail Wednesday and sent to jail before the start of his criminal trial. The judge argued he could try to flee, commit acts of violence, or meddle with the investigation into the charges against him.
Still, the proposed bond package offers a look into Combs’ lavish lifestyle.
The proposed bond package was mainly backed by the singer’s Star Island home, which his lawyers said was worth $48.6 million. Combs also offered the equity of his mother’s Miami home as collateral, according to court documents.
Combs’ legal team cited a third-party appraisal dated June 28, 2022, that valued his home, which is named Two Star and located at 2 Star Island Drive, at $48.5 million.
Part of the appraisal report of Combs’ mansion at 2 Star Island Drive.
According to the Miami-Dade property appraisal site, the property’s market value is $44.3 million, while the assessed value is $30.4 million as of 2024. He bought the house for $14.5 million in 2003.
The house has seven bedrooms and two half-bathrooms over about 14,800 square feet of living space, according to the appraisal report. It has multiple swimming pools and a spa, as well as a pool house with cabanas.
The legal team also noted that Combs satisfied the $18.8 million mortgage on the Star Island home in August, anticipating criminal charges.
In court, Agnifilo called it a “terrible business decision” done “because we knew this day was coming.”
“We paid off the mortgage because that is what it means to build trust,” Agnifilo said. “And we have done these things to build trust in a real and substantial sense. There is nothing about this as a show. No one makes bad financial decisions just for a show. It was important. And I told him this is an important thing to do.”
Star Island has many wealthy residents
Star Island, an exclusive neighborhood in Biscayne Bay that is part of Miami Beach, has other celebrity residents.
An aerial view of Star Island.
Hedge-fund billionaire Ken Griffin bought a property on Star Island for $75 million in 2022 — the most expensive of a few 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 fewer than 50 homes arranged around its one central ring road.
Other homes on the island go for even more than the $48.5 million Combs’ home was appraised at.
Comparable sales listed in the appraisal report for Combs’ Miami mansion.
A 10-bedroom home was listed for $68 million in August 2023. It sold for $57 million the next month.
Combs also owns the property next door, at 1 Star Island Drive, which he purchased in 2021 from wife-and-husband singers Gloria and Emilio Estefan for $35 million. The appraisal provided to the court includes Combs’ $35-million next-door purchase as a comparable sale and a few other dealings on and off the island. That home was not a part of the proposed package.
Combs built a large fortune over his 3-decade career
Over his three-decade career, Combs has amassed a fortune that has been pegged at $1 billion.
At its peak in the late 1990s, his Bad Boy Records brought in nine figures annually — enough that he could negotiate a $55 million advance from the label’s partner, Forbes reported in 1999.
Outside of music, he founded or took part in the marketing of a slew of businesses, including clothing label Sean John, Cîroc vodka, and DeLeón tequila.
As a brand ambassador for Cîroc, Combs negotiated a deal in which he got paid by the case sold. According to court filings, Combs earned nearly $1 billion throughout 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 that he often bragged about.
Besides 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 plane, called LoveAir, that he is trying to sell, according to his lawyer, as well as a jewelry collection full of diamonds and watches, and an art collection with works by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
That wealth came with a huge amount of power, which prosecutors said he used to orchestrate his crimes.
“Combs, and other members and associates of the Combs Enterprise, wielded the power and prestige of Combs’ role at the Combs Business to intimidate, threaten, and lure female victims into Combs’ orbit,” the indictment said.
