Patients with an esophageal diverticulum are usually asymptomatic, the most common symptom is dysphagia. However, perforation of the esophageal diverticulum can cause acute mediastinitis and empyema thoracis. We present a 51-year-old man who suffered from a chronic cough and hoarseness. He presented to the hospital complaining of hemoptysis, chest pain and fever. Empyema thoracis developed during admission. An upper gastrointestinal (UGI) series and panendoscopy suggested an esophageal tumor, but neither endoscopic nor percutaneous biopsies could lead to a definite diagnosis. The patient finally underwent thoracotomy, and the pathologic report showed esophageal carcinoid tumor and adenocarcinoma. The coexistence of esophageal carcinoid tumor and adenocarcinoma is very rare. To our knowledge, this is the first report of esophageal carcinoid tumor and adenocarcinoma arising from an esophageal diverticulum and complicated with empyema thoracis.