The Tragic Truth About Karoline Leavitt's Husband Nicholas Riccio
Karoline Leavitt's engagement ring is worth a fortune, so it probably goes without saying that her husband is a very wealthy man. However, that hasn't always been the case. Quite the contrary — for many years, Nicholas Riccio's life was anything but lavish, and there was a long period when he was homeless.
Speaking to Seacoastonline back in 2005, Riccio revealed that his childhood had been a tumultuous one, particularly after his parents parted ways. He hinted at both his mother and father moving around a lot after their divorce, which meant he never felt completely settled. However, things only worsened once he turned 18 and Riccio became homeless. Heartbreakingly, that continued on and off for years, and he told the outlet that while he was in college, there were times he had to live in his car. During that period, he relied on friends where necessary. "When I was 19 or 20, I would call my buddies to go over [to] their houses to watch a game just so I could take a shower," he told Seacoastonline.
Ultimately, things took a turn for the better after Riccio had completed a course on real estate and started taking out loans to buy investment properties. By the time of his 2005 interview, he'd built up an impressive business, owning and rejuvenating nearly half the properties on M Street in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. However, he also shared that he had plans to expand further and kept a scrapbook of news clippings about M Street's dingier past to use as motivation. Given his own history, we have no doubts that he took a similar approach to his life in general, using his past experiences with poverty to keep pushing forward.
Nicholas has long had his own political connections
Despite his humble beginnings, by 2005, Nicholas Riccio had some very big goals — and not just in the property business. He also spoke extensively with Seacoastonline about his desire to one day own a sports team. And, very much in line with the dedication he'd had in terms of building a massive property portfolio, he outlined some of the steps he'd taken toward achieving that dream. In particular, he spoke about having no qualms about reaching out and asking questions to those who had owned teams in the past. One of those happened to be George W. Bush, who had previously served as the Texas Rangers' managing partner. According to Riccio, he and the then-president had spoken about it for several minutes and he'd walked away inspired.
Of course, Riccio doesn't own a team just yet. His wife has also pointed out in the past that he prefers to stay private, so perhaps that's no longer one of his goals and he simply hasn't shared that with the world. However, that doesn't mean he's stopped rubbing shoulders with political elites. In fact, back in 2020, he offered up two of his properties to host a Women for Trump meeting.
It's not clear if Riccio met his much younger now-wife – he and Karoline Leavitt have a massive age gap of 32 years — as a result of his involvement in the meeting, but we wouldn't rule out the possibility. After all, Trump's new press secretary does hail from New Hampshire and was involved in the state's political scene. Either way, it's pretty clear Riccio has come a long way — going from extreme poverty to extreme wealth — and now has direct access to some of the most powerful people in the country.