Sean “Diddy” Combs has been working on the biggest Black-owned marijuana company in the world, reports said.
According to CNBC, Diddy has officially broken a new barrier–this time, in the cannabis industry. On Nov. 4, Cresco Labs and Columbia Care announced that the Bad Boy Records founder is the official creator of the largest Black-owned marijuana company in the world.
The up to $185 million business venture is reportedly his first investment in the cannabis industry. It’s also the first minority-owned, vertically integrated multi-state marijuana company in the U.S., a release from Diddy and the companies indicated.
“My mission has always been to create opportunities for Black entrepreneurs in industries where we’ve traditionally been denied access, and this acquisition provides the immediate scale and impact needed to create a more equitable future in cannabis,” the legendary music executive said in the Nov. 4 release.
He added that “owning the entire process” is “a historic win for the culture.”
“Owning the entire process–from growing and manufacturing to marketing, retail, and wholesale distribution–is a historic win for the culture that will allow us to empower diverse leaders throughout the ecosystem and be bold advocates for inclusion,” Diddy said.
The new deal reportedly gives Diddy the ability to manufacture branded marijuana products and distribute them to dispensaries in major cities, including NYC, Chicago and Boston. It includes four retail stores and a production facility in New York state, three retail stores and one production facility in Massachusetts, and two retail stores and one production facility in Illinois.
Diddy’s longstanding fame and accomplishments haven’t come without controversy, however. In October, he addressed alleged rumors that he stole money from artists, saying, “I never took nothing from nobody.”
“First of all, [there’s] been negative propaganda put out about me that’s not true and [it] really stained–tried to stain my legacy,” he told hosts DJ Envy, Angela Yee, and Charlamagne Tha God on the hit morning show, The Breakfast Club.
