Nicholas Riccio, the husband of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, has an estimated net worth of around $6 million. Every dollar of it came from real estate in New Hampshire, built across three decades starting from a single condemned building he had barely enough money to buy.
There was no trust fund, no investor backing, and no shortcut. At 18, Riccio was living on the streets. At 20, he was calling friends to use their showers. By 40, he owned 15 buildings along the Atlantic coast and was discussing sports team ownership with a sitting U.S. president.
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Nicholas Riccio: Quick Facts
| Full Name | Nicholas “Nick” Riccio |
| Date of Birth | February 23, 1965 |
| Age | 60 |
| Hometown | Hudson, New Hampshire |
| Education | Plymouth State University |
| Companies | Riccio Enterprises LLC / Nautical Beach Properties |
| Estimated Net Worth | ~$6 Million |
| Spouse | Karoline Leavitt (married January 2025) |
| Son | Nicholas Robert “Niko” Riccio (born July 10, 2024) |
| Second Child | Baby girl due May 2026 |
What Is Nicholas Riccio’s Net Worth?
Nicholas Riccio’s net worth is estimated at approximately $6 million, based on property data from Realtor.com and reported across Newsweek, Distractify, and The List. The entire figure comes from real estate, managed under two entities:
- Riccio Enterprises LLC — property acquisition and management
- Nautical Beach Properties — the vacation rental arm (nauticalbeachproperties.com)
His portfolio covers 15+ buildings in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, with a total of 70 living units, plus properties extending from Boston to the White Mountains and at least one additional holding in West Virginia.
Current nightly rates from his Nautical Beach Properties listings give a clear picture of the income structure:
| Property | Nightly Rate |
|---|---|
| Nautical Motel, Deluxe King room | $149 |
| 14 M Street, 1-bedroom apartment | $259 |
| 16 M Street, 4-bedroom house | $469 to $619 |
Hampton Beach sits on the New Hampshire coastline where summer rental demand runs high across all property types.
How Nicholas Riccio Made His Money
Riccio’s model has been consistent since 1993: buy undervalued or deteriorating properties, renovate them to a high standard, and generate long-term rental income. He had no business partner and no outside capital.
After graduating from Plymouth State University, he took a real estate course in 1990 and started borrowing money to invest, sometimes at interest rates between 50 and 100 percent. He bought his first property on M Street in Hampton Beach in 1993 and spent the next twelve years acquiring 14 more buildings on that single street.
Hampton Police Chief William Wrenn described what the change looked like from the outside, speaking to the Sunday Herald in 2005:
“Nick is renovating buildings to a point where families will be interested in coming in. His properties are clean, they have new appliances and many nice renovations. He really is trying to change the image.”
From Homeless at 18 to a $6 Million Real Estate Portfolio
Nick Riccio grew up in Hudson, New Hampshire, one of four children in a family that moved frequently after his parents, Marilyn and Anthony, divorced when he was young. By the time he was 18, he had no permanent address.
“When I was 19 or 20, I would call my buddies to go over their houses to watch a game just so I could take a shower.” — Nicholas Riccio, Sunday Herald, March 2005
He put himself through Plymouth State University by sleeping in his car to avoid paying rent. After graduating, he worked at Purity Supreme grocery stores in Massachusetts and read business books in every available hour.
His guiding principle came from broadcaster Earl Nightingale: “You become what you think about.”
The 1993 Drive Down M Street
In 1993, Riccio was driving through Hampton Beach with his mother Marilyn when they came across M Street, a block of condemned and neglected buildings with a reputation for crime and noise. He told her on the spot that he wanted to buy all of them.
He started with one building, borrowed against everything he had to close the deal, and worked outward from there. Twelve years later, he owned 15 of the 36 buildings on that block, with the remaining 21 still on his list.
The Parents He Lost
Marilyn, whose impromptu drive with her son in 1993 started the entire business, died of cancer in 1997 at age 60. His father Anthony died of cancer five years later, in 2002, also at age 60. Riccio has said he still works to honor his mother’s memory.
The George W. Bush Conversation
By 2005, Riccio had moved beyond Hampton Beach in his thinking. He wanted to own a professional sports team and had built a personal sports museum in his home, with Muhammad Ali-signed boxing gloves and Larry Bird autographed photographs on the walls.
He sought advice from LA Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, and Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo, among others.
In February 2005, at a political event at Pease International Tradeport in New Hampshire, Riccio sat in the front row alongside Senators John Sununu and Judd Gregg and spoke with President George W. Bush for three to four minutes about sports team ownership. Bush had co-owned the Texas Rangers, buying in with an investor group for $89 million in 1990 and selling for $250 million a decade later.
“My work in real estate has helped facilitate my dream of owning a professional sports team. And that will happen one day in the near future.” — Nicholas Riccio, Sunday Herald, 2005
The sports team never happened. By 2022, his priorities had moved on entirely.
How Nicholas Riccio and Karoline Leavitt Met
They met in 2022 at an event organized by a mutual friend, held at a restaurant in New Hampshire that Riccio himself owned. Leavitt was there speaking during her congressional campaign against Democrat Chris Pappas.
“A mutual friend of ours hosted an event at a restaurant that he owns up in New Hampshire and invited my husband. I was speaking. We met and we were acquainted as friends.” — Karoline Leavitt, The Megyn Kelly Show, February 2025
She was 25. He was 57. Their 32-year age gap has been one of the most talked-about aspects of their public profile. Riccio is five years older than Leavitt’s own mother.
Leavitt addressed how her family initially reacted on Pod Force One with Miranda Devine in November 2025:
“It’s definitely a challenging conversation to have at first. But then, of course, once they got to know him and saw who he is as a man, and his character and how much he adores me, I think it became quite easy for them. And now we’re all friends.”
On the relationship itself, she told Megyn Kelly: “It’s a very atypical love story, but he’s incredible. He is my greatest supporter, he’s my best friend and he’s my rock.”
The Engagement, the Ring, and the Wedding
Riccio proposed on Christmas Day 2023, on a New Hampshire beach. Leavitt shared the moment on Instagram, debuting their relationship publicly for the first time: “The best Christmas of my life. I get to marry the man of my dreams.”
The ring drew expert attention. Mike Fried, CEO of The Diamond Pro, assessed it exclusively for The List as a 3-carat round diamond in a four-prong Cathedral setting, placing its value at approximately $90,000. The diamond eternity wedding band she wears alongside it added up to $10,000, putting the combined value at around $100,000.
The wedding: January 2025, days before Trump’s second inauguration, at Wentworth By The Sea Country Club in Rye, New Hampshire, a century-old private club with ocean views and a Scottish links golf course. Photos Leavitt posted on Instagram two months later showed the couple posing at the venue bar under a neon sign that read “The Riccios.”
Karoline Leavitt’s Salary and Net Worth
Leavitt’s personal net worth sits at around $100,000, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Her financial disclosures during her 2021 and 2022 congressional campaign showed no significant assets, no investments, and no real estate holdings at the time.
Her salary picture changed sharply in January 2025. The official White House staff report, released in July 2025 and reported by Axios, confirmed her annual earnings at $195,200, placing her among the 33 highest-paid White House staffers, a group that also includes Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
Her personal net worth reflects a short pre-White House career in salaried political roles. The household financial base, by contrast, rests primarily on Riccio’s three-decade real estate portfolio.
Nicholas Riccio and Karoline Leavitt in 2026
Their son, Nicholas Robert “Niko” Riccio, was born on July 10, 2024. Three days later, on July 13, Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Leavitt was on maternity leave from her role as national press secretary on Trump’s presidential campaign and cut it short to return to work.
“I looked at my husband and said, ‘Looks like I’m going back to work.'” — Karoline Leavitt, The Conservateur, October 2024
She was appointed White House Press Secretary in November 2024 and formally took the position on January 20, 2025, inauguration day. At 27, she became the youngest person ever to hold the role, surpassing Ron Ziegler, who was 29 at appointment.
On December 26, 2025, the couple announced their second pregnancy. A baby girl is due in May 2026. When she is born, Leavitt will become the first pregnant White House Press Secretary in American history. A baby shower was held on March 23, 2026, hosted by Katie Miller, wife of Stephen Miller, and attended by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Riccio himself stays almost entirely out of the public side of his wife’s career. He has no active social media presence. Leavitt has said publicly: “He doesn’t have social media and he’s an introvert, complete opposite of me.” He appeared alongside her at the White House Easter Egg Roll on April 21, 2025, and manages his Hampton Beach portfolio while she runs daily briefings in Washington.
The $6 million attached to Nicholas Riccio’s name in connection with Karoline Leavitt’s husband net worth did not come from anything handed to him. It came from a real estate course taken in 1990, borrowed money at punishing interest rates, one condemned building on a street his mother pointed out, and three decades of buying, fixing, and renting properties in coastal New Hampshire. The number arrived quietly, long before anyone was paying attention.
