All Articles Tagged "Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group"
Closed for Business: Diddy Shuts Down His Famed Atlanta Restaurant, “Justin’s”
patch.buckhead.com
After 14 years in the restaurant business, Diddy is moving on to other endeavors. The mogul has closed his once wildly successful Buckhead restaurant “Justin’s” that specialized in Southern and Caribbean food.
“There was speculation that Justin’s was shut down for renovations and would reopen. Not. Once known for “Martini Mondays” and celebrity-filled weekend nights, Justin’s fell off in recent years and was unable to relocate its early magic.
Combs’ first Justin’s restaurant, in New York, closed after 10 years in 2007.
Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group (BBWEG), founded by Combs, said in a statement that Justin’s was closed in order to pursue “other business ventures in music, television, fashion, fragrance and spirits.” It added that is is “actively exploring business opportunities in Atlanta” and promises “to have a strong presence in the region.”
Diddy isn’t the only entertainer to have his restaurant close in recent years. Usher, Ludacris and Jermaine Dupri’s restaurants have all reached the same fate.
In fact, Gladys Knight’s and Ron Winan’s chicken and waffle joints make them the only entertainers left thriving in Atlanta’s restaurant industry.
This isn’t the first time this restaurant has made headlines. In 2009, the restaurant reportedly owed the IRS $8,000 dollars in back taxes. And last summer, Tony Austin (former A&R man for Def Jam and President of Russell Simmons Music Group) sued Diddy for “failing to maintain a safe environment” after Austin was shot multiple times in the restaurant’s parking lot in 2010. Sheesh!
No one likes to see a black-owned business fail, but we’re pretty sure Diddy isn’t hurting for money. Last year, Forbes magazine estimated his net worth at $500 million dollars, making him the richest figure in hip hop.
Have you ever visited Justin’s in Atlanta? Why do you think these entertainer-owned restaurants don’t survive in that city?
Alissa Henry is a freelance writer living in Columbus, OH follow her on Twitter @AlissaInPink
Diddy’s Bad Boy Ranked as 3rd Largest Minority Owned Business in New York City
Sean “Diddy” Combs has become quite the businessman. What started out in 1993 as a record company that was home to hip-hop and R&B artists such as The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans and Craig Mack has grown into a worldwide conglomerate that was recently selected by Crain’s New York Business as the third largest minority-owned business in New York City.
According to Crain’s, for a business to qualify, it must be privately owned and headquartered within the New York area. The New York area includes New York City and Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties in New York, as well as Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties in New Jersey. The business must also be at least 51 percent owned by minorities.
Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group is responsible for managing artists, recording music, fragrances, restaurants, apparel, advertising, marketing, TV and film production. Bad Boy rakes in an estimated $300 million annually and has an estimated 600 employees on its payroll.
Bad Boy falls behind Palladium Equity Partners, a private equity company that landed the number two spot and pulled in $1.2 billion in revenue in 2009. Goya Foods Inc., the Hispanic-owned food company, took the number one position and generated $1.5 billion in revenue in 2009.
