In an extensive interview with the Telegraph.co.uk’s Celia Walden, Sean Diddy Combs discusses a range of topics, including his ambition, which gave us our headline today.
As everyone should know, P Diddy - aka Sean Combs, P Diddy, Puff Daddy, Puffy, the Didster - will always sit at the head of the table.
The former bad boy from Harlem turned one-man conglomerate is estimated to be worth more than $500 million. He’s the proud owner of a record label, a clothes brand, a men’s fragrance called “Unforgivable”, a film production company, two restaurants, and a fledgling acting career.
So it comes as a surprise to realise that P Diddy is just plain shy. The 38-year-old gazes into the mid-distance, twitching his foot nervously, throwing the occasional wary look my way. Overall, he behaves less like a global mogul than a schoolboy on sufferance.
The first few questions elicit minimal responses: “I really wanted to become best known as an entrepreneur,” he replies when I ask what there is left for him to achieve. “Now I’ve done that.” A few more machine-gun Q & As and I’m beginning to fear the worst. Then a funny thing happens.
Taking a swig of the cocktail placed before me, I choke on the industrial-strength mix. P Diddy starts to snigger. The entourage follows suit, and everyone relaxes.
“You know what motivates me?” he volunteers. “That as a young African-American I know that any deal I do helps to change the perception of minorities. I don’t know if I’m the most successful black man ever, but I feel I’m pretty good at what I do. And I don’t gauge my success on money; I gauge it on how many people I can employ and help with their lives. I employ 3,000 people - that means I’m helping 3,000 people with their bills every week.”
[…]
I ask whether anyone still leaves him starstruck. “I’m totally jaded,” he says. “Although actually that’s not true, there is one person I really want to meet: the Queen of England. I don’t know why I’ve never met her.” He looks affronted.
“She’s never invited me to the palace - not yet, anyway.”
Source: P Diddy: ‘Why haven’t I met the Queen yet?’
Photo: Sean Diddy Combs at Cannes Film Festival, May 21, 2008 (Getty Images)
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