By Joseph Wilkinson | New York Daily News
Sean “Diddy” Combs has sold all of his shares in Revolt, the media company he founded over a decade ago.
Combs, 54, had stepped down as the company’s chairman in November, days after his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura accused him of physical abuse, sexual assault and rape in lawsuit.
But until Tuesday’s announcement, Combs remained a significant shareholder in the privately held company. Following the sale, “our newly projected largest shareholder group are Revolt’s current employees,” the company said in an Instagram post. “Shares held by the company’s former chairman, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, have been fully redeemed and retired.”
Revolt CEO Detavio Samuels said the company had been approached in recent months by several groups hoping to buy Combs’ shares, but it rejected the bids. He did not say how much Diddy received for his shares.
“There’s no structure that we would have accepted that was not Black-owned,” Samuels told Variety, adding that about 80% of Revolt’s employees are people of color.
Revolt launched in 2013 and centered around a music TV channel that Combs pitched as “what ESPN is for sports and CNN is for news.” Now, the media company is largely focused on digital content and podcasts.
Combs’ music and business empire has crumbled since Ventura filed the lawsuit in November. Both parties agreed to settle the suit one day later, but five more lawsuits full of similar allegations from other complainants followed.
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Additionally, federal authorities raided Combs’ properties in Los Angeles and Miami in March, though he has not yet been charged with any crimes.
Combs initially denied all the allegations in the lawsuits, but in May, CNN published video of Combs viciously beating Ventura in a hotel hallway. He apologized in an Instagram video.
Samuels said Revolt had already been looking for a way to reward the company’s employees.
“This is something that we’ve been looking to do, waiting to do, believing that the people who give this company their blood, sweat and tears should have some sort of upside opportunity if and when we win,” he told Variety.
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