SEAN COMBS - DAD'S MURDER DROVE COMBS TO BUSINESS SUCCESS

DAD'S MURDER DROVE COMBS TO BUSINESS SUCCESS

Rap mogul SEAN COMBS was driven to become a successful businessman to avoid the same fate as his father, who was murdered when he was a child. Combs was just three years old when his dad Melvin, an associate of drug kingpin Frank Lucas, was shot dead in his car in 1972. And Combs, who now runs hip-hop, fashion and fragrance empires, admits the tragic end to his father's life proved instrumental in shaping his desire to succeed. He says, "The greatest thing about the American dream is to be an American businessman, to take care of your family and make something happen. "This is way more parallel to my life. I grew up on 145th Street and Lenox Avenue (in Harlem). I was afraid of getting hurt in the streets. My father was murdered when I was three. He was a street hustler. "I just wanted to be somebody."