Karoline Leavitt smiles in a dark outfit© Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Since Karoline Leavitt walks around with a fortune on her ring finger, it’s safe to assume her husband has some wealth to his name. And those assumptions would be correct. A real estate developer, Nicholas Riccio has amassed an estimated net worth of $6 million. Considering Leavitt gets a hefty payday for being President Donald Trump’s press secretary, the couple lives a pretty comfortable life. In fact, Riccio might have previously been worth more, given that he once sought to purchase a sports team.

But Riccio’s life wasn’t always one of abundance. On the contrary, Leavitt’s husband has a tragic background. He’s a self-made millionaire who rose from poverty, having even been homeless in his youth. “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,” he told Seacoastonline in 2005. He went to college nonetheless, working to pay for tuition on his own. He still had no roof over his head, though, and often slept in his car.

His luck didn’t turn immediately. After college, he found work stocking shelves at a grocery store and took a real estate course in 1990. He also started borrowing money at high interest rates to invest. It was a risky move, but Riccio was confident it would pay off. And it did. Three years later, he purchased his first property on M Street in New Hampshire. By 2005, he was wealthy enough to be talking to the president about buying a baseball team.

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Nicholas Riccio’s Dream Of Sports Team Ownership Never Materialized

Karoline Leavitt and Nicholas Riccio pose with their son© @karolineleavitt/Instagram

It’s unclear how Nicholas Riccio’s wealth fluctuated over the years, but he was once rich enough to want to buy a baseball team. In February 2005, he sat down with none other than then-president George W. Bush to discuss sports team ownership. In 1990, Bush and an investor group purchased the Texas Rangers for $89 million, with his stake worth $500,000. In 2000, Bush and his investors sold the baseball team for $250 million, proving it a worthy investment. Riccio wanted all his tips.

And he got them. He told the Seacoastonline that he talked to Bush for a few minutes during a political event at Pease International Tradeport but planned to reach out to him again after he left the White House to continue their conversation. By then, Riccio planned to be a sports team owner. “My work in real estate has helped facilitate my dream of owning a professional sports team,” Riccio said. “And that will happen one day in the near future.”

That wish never materialized, according to The U.S. Sun, but he continued using his wealth to promote dreams — even if not his. When Karoline Leavitt ran for Congress, her husband didn’t hesitate to help and joined her campaign’s finance committee. Leavitt lost the election, but he continues to support her aspirations. “He’s built a very successful business himself, so now he’s fully supportive of me building my success and my career,” she said on “The Megyn Kelly Show” in February 2025.