Simon Read: Bankers are deservedly getting a bad rap. So why shouldn’t we trust rappers to run a good bank?
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Your support makes all the difference.The rapper Sean Combs, formerly known as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, has been busy this week buying tequila. Not, as you may imagine, just a few bottles of the potent booze, but a whole brand.
And not just any brand but one – known as DeLeón – that sells for around £55 a shot among well-heeled music and film aficianados in LA and elsewhere.
To be fair, the rapper hasn’t gone into this business on his own. He’s in a 50:50 partnership with the British drinks giant Diageo.
But the move is a sign that the bad boy rapper – who is also responsible for the popular Sean John clothing brand – has been completely transformed into a successful businessman, welcomed into boardrooms across the world.
How different his story is to that of former the Co-operative Bank chairman Paul Flowers. He’s now more famous for his drugs and sex scandal than his banking acumen, although that has also been called into question.
The two stories suggest, perhaps, that we should now trust rappers more than bankers. If Mr Combs started up his own bank – called, for instance, Daddy’s Savings or Diddy Bank – wouldn’t you be interested in finding out about its deals and expect fairer treatment?
Or is that just a sad reflection of how low our trust in bankers has fallen?
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