Rapper 50 Cent and boxing champion Floyd Mayweather were once close friends, but a financial dispute in 2012 over a seven-figure sum shattered their relationship.
All About The Money
Both men, known for their financial acumen, have different perspectives on what caused the beef. According to 50 Cent, the dispute not only cost him $2 million but also a valued friendship.
The rift became public when 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson, on Nov. 29, 2012, when he appeared on Big Boy’s morning show on Power 106 in Los Angeles.
During the interview, he explained that the trouble began when Mayweather asked for his help in managing Mayweather Promotions while he served a three-month jail sentence for domestic violence. The friend was eager to assist, however, upon investigating more deeply into his business dealings, 50 Cent discovered that Mayweather Promotions did not exist as a legal entity.
“I took a look and I realized there is no Mayweather Promotions. There’s no LLC. There’s no seal. It’s not incorporated,” 50 Cent explained. “When he says help him with Mayweather Promotions and it’s not there, I say, ‘OK, I know what he means.’ He wants me to put it together for him.”
This is something that Mayweather’s camp had never done because he was associated with Golden Boy promotions, who took care of everything. 50, being an entrepreneur, stepped up put everything into play, including signing other boxers.
Taking initiative, 50 Cent established The Money Team Promotions. He began signing boxers and negotiating contracts, but tension arose when Mayweather was released from jail.
“He comes home, there’s the ‘Let’s get Floyd back in pocket’ campaign that goes on,” he says.
50 Cent claimed that instead of addressing their business, Mayweather was spending extravagantly on luxury items, including $300,000 chains and Lamborghinis, saying, “I’m sitting there going, ‘Yo, when you gonna give me the money?’”
According to 50 Cent, Mayweather never approved the start of the company, leading to a series of contentious public exchanges. Despite effectively running the firm and securing deals, 50 Cent was denied his share of the promised $2 million payout.
Not all was lost. As a result, the BMF showrunner, whose estimated net worth is now about $40 million, secured a boxing-promoter license in Las Vegas — and has that as an asset in his diverse means of revenue portfolio.
The public feud between the two seemed to calm down by 2022.
During an appearance on The Breakfast Club, 50 Cent revealed that he had reconciled with Mayweather at a comedy show in Las Vegas around his birthday, during Super Bowl weekend.
He credits his friend and protégé Mo’Nique as being the one to connect them, saying she spent 10 minutes of her set berating them for not getting along.
When he apologized, Mayweather, who is reported to sit on top of a $450 million nest egg, responded, “What took you so long to pull up on me? Why you be saying all that stuff about me? Yo, what you been doing?”
Despite the back and forth, 50 said that he knows Mayweather respects him because of how hard he works and how he brings his vision to light.
“Nah, 5 different. If he say, he gonna do it, he gonna do it,” Floyd allegedly says to his friends about 50 Cent.
However, mutual respect and this reconciliation didn’t mark the end of 50 dragging Mayweather.
In February 2024, 50 Cent criticized Mayweather for supporting Sean “Diddy” Combs amid sexual harassment allegations. In an Instagram post, 50 Cent questioned Mayweather’s judgment, writing, “They didn’t even ask him about this, Champ is you stupid or is you dumb?” in a now removed Instagram post.
Additionally, 50 Cent has repeatedly mocked Mayweather’s reading abilities, taking great joy in implying the businessman is illiterate.
While promoting his latest book, “The Accomplice,” on social media, he announced plans to release the audiobook version simultaneously with the print edition. His reason was because he said he wanted Mayweather to be able to access it.
“I have no beef with anyone,” 50 Cent wrote in the caption, “But I made sure the audiobook comes out simultaneously so champ won’t feel left out.” The implication? Mayweather’s alleged struggle with reading won’t hinder his enjoyment of the thrilling heist tale.
This jab goes back to a 2014 incident, two years after he allegedly lost $2 million, when 50 Cent challenged Mayweather to read a single page from a Harry Potter book for a $750,000 charity donation.
Mayweather ignored his friend, proving the old saying that with friends like that who needs enemies.
