“You started learning how to count right, I see,” explained Sean “Diddy” Combs to Forbes earlier today, likely referring to the latest estimate that placed his net worth at $580 million. “Thank God!”
But he was calling from France to talk about something else—a venture that could one day make him a billionaire—Revolt TV. Diddy is the network’s majority shareholder, and just announced a carriage deal with Time Warner Cable (TWC). That means his network will have over 25 million subscribers when it debuts this fall, he says, the biggest launch in history behind only Oprah Winfrey’s OWN and perhaps one other.
“Revolt is the first network that’s being launched in the social medial age,” he said. “Multi-screen, multi-platform, from mobile to digital.”
So will Revolt make Diddy a billionaire? Perhaps not immediately, but there’s a good chance down the line. Cable networks are notoriously difficult to launch. The field is crowded, and established players don’t like ceding ground to newcomers. But Diddy seems to have found a way. In February 2012, Comcast (CMCSA) agreed to distribute Revolt–along with three other minority-owned independent networks—to the 10 million homes it reaches. The Time Warner deal should push Revolt past the 20 million threshold. And if Diddy can indeed hit 25 million, he’ll have more than a quarter of MTV ’s audience.
Once in the door, the economics of cable television can be extremely favorable to network owners. SNL Kagan estimates that cable companies pay MTV $0.43 per month per subscriber, which works out to just over $5 per year, or about $500 million in annual revenues. And Diddy is more than happy to challenge the original music network.
“Since MTV stopped playing music videos … it’s left this gaping hole and an opportunity to create not just a network or a channel but an audience company,” he said. “That’s what I like to call Revolt: an audience company that specializes in Millennials. And the number one thing that Millennials like is music, and the number one thing I specialize in is music.”
Turning a profit may prove difficult in the early going, but a well-oiled network can generate margins in excess of 25%. So, some back-of-the-envelope math: say Revolt manages $4 per subscriber per year. That works out to $100 million in sales, and perhaps $25 million in profit. Apply a 15x earnings multiple, and you get a valuation of $375 million for the network.
Diddy wouldn’t disclose the precise nature of his stake, saying only that it was more than half. Even if it’s 51%, he’s looking at a potential net worth bump of nearly $200 million on paper when Revolt goes live. If he doubles his subscriber base over the next few years, the math says he’ll be a billionaire. A tall order, to be sure, but that’s Diddy’s specialty.
“All I try to do is build the maximum value for my companies,” he explained. “At the end of the day, the numbers don’t lie. I’m just like any other businessman; at the end of the year I have to get my report card and deal with the reality of whatever it is.”
As for the possibility of sending his net worth into ten-figure territory?
“I don’t want my career to be defined on this, that I was quote-unquote a billionaire,” he said. “But to be honest, I’d be blessed to be a billionaire … hopefully someday it’ll come true and I’ll be able to do some good with it.”
The Ghanaian actress had a very revealing interview with Bella Naija today where she opened up about her relationship with Iyanya and how much he hurt her. Excerpts:
BN: How long did the two of you date and how would you describe the relationship?
YN: We dated for 7 to 8 months. We had something and I thought it was special, like he was a wonderful guy but it was all lies. He had other girls and other things he was doing. Aside the actress that was in the picture, there were a lot more. That is how bad it is. We were in a relationship and he lied throughout and he was able to do all those things because I wasn’t living in Nigeria. But aside from the distance, I feel if you’re a genuine person and you’re loyal, you would still not do that.
BN: Is this actress you’re talking about actually Tonto Dikeh?
YNI feel it’s disrespectful to start mentioning other people’s names. I am talking about Iyanya because we had a thing, I don’t want to bring in a third person. There were a lot of names that people know. There was a girl from South Africa, I’m not going to mention names but she was part of Big Brother Africa last year.
More when you continue...
BN: Most people only got to know that you and Iyanya were dating after you broke up. Were you deliberately being secretive about it?
YN: I also don’t believe in putting my relationships in the faces of people. We both had our careers and were trying to protect our fan base and that’s cool. But if you go through my Instagram page, you’d see a couple of pictures of us together. I wasn’t shy about anything but he could not say he’s dating Yvonne Nelson because he had different people he was seeing so it was very hard for him to bring it out.
BN: What did the experience teach you?
YN: There are some things that you don’t get to learn in school; people can’t advice you, you won’t even listen. You just have to experience it to learn. I have no regrets that I went through it, it would have happened anyway. We are all human beings. We fall in love once in a while but if it doesn’t work out, that’s OK.
BN: Have you moved on since then?
YN: I have! It happened last year but I’ve moved on. I’ve been working hard, been producing movies. I still listen to his music, I love his album. I love the Track 1 with MI and I love, ‘I Got It’. He is a very talented guy, I always have goose bumps on my body when he sings.
BN: Aside from the music, what else was the attraction?
YN: You can’t really explain when you love somebody. It’s everything. It was just something that I felt and I can’t explain. It was love, I really really loved him and he knows that.
BN: How do you feel about him now and what message would you like to pass on to him if you had the chance?
YN: Iyanya is such an amazing person but I just feel he needs to be more honest and be a man of his words. It’s not good if he takes advantage of women. My Mum always says any man who takes advantage of women won’t end up well. It’s Karma, it’s going to come back to you. He should treat women fairly and he should be an honest person. It’s been a while though, I haven’t seen him. He is doing amazing things in his career and I wish him luck.
You can read the full interview on Bella Naija
