Rick Ross has carved out some of the profitable rap careers of the final twenty years. We presently estimate his net worth at $150 million. That fortune has been constructed by means of each his personal platinum-selling music profession and his work because the founding father of Maybach Music Group, some of the influential hip-hop labels of the 2010s.
As a solo artist, Ross has launched chart-topping albums like “Port of Miami,” “Deeper Than Rap,” and “God Forgives, I Do not,” cementing his picture as “The Boss.” By means of Maybach Music, he helped launch and information the careers of Wale, Meek Mill, Gunplay, French Montana, and Omarion, amongst others. Past music, Ross has constructed a enterprise empire that features a line of Wingstop and Checkers franchises, a $20 million Gulfstream G550 private jet, a champagne model referred to as Luc Belaire, a spirits line, and ventures in clothes, actual property, and automotive amassing.
And maybe fittingly for a king of his stature, Rick Ross lives in a literal palace.
His residence—referred to as The Promise Land—is not simply any celeb mansion. It is one of many largest personal residences in the US, a 54,000-square-foot megastructure sitting on greater than 300 acres of rolling Georgia countryside. The property has its personal personal freeway, a number of lakes, a 350,000-gallon swimming pool, and a eating corridor large enough for 100 friends. When Ross movies music movies boasting about success and empire-building, he does not want a rented set—the backdrop is his precise residence.
However what makes Ross’s mansion much more fascinating is the story behind it. Earlier than it grew to become The Promise Land, this huge property was referred to as Villa Vittoriosa, and it was constructed within the Nineteen Nineties by one other larger-than-life champion: heavyweight boxing legend Evander Holyfield. Sadly, Holyfield ultimately realized that carrying such a large, luxurious property on one’s again can flip into a large monetary burden…
A Boxing Champion’s Mansion Dream
Within the mid-Nineteen Nineties, heavyweight boxing legend Evander Holyfield poured a fortune into creating some of the extravagant personal properties in America. Contemporary off main title fights and large paydays (together with an estimated $34 million from the notorious Mike Tyson “ear chew” combat), Holyfield got down to construct a palatial property close to Atlanta, Georgia, as the last word image of his success. Between 1994 and 1999, he constructed a mega-mansion nicknamed “Villa Vittoriosa”—Italian for “Victory”—on a sprawling 235-acre tract of land that even had a street named after him: Evander Holyfield Freeway. This wasn’t only a huge home; it was a real trophy property that mirrored his standing as a four-time world champion. As his former accountant as soon as put it, “That is his trophy, his image of success.”
Holyfield’s motivations had been as grand because the mansion itself. With over $200 million in profession earnings and a big household—11 kids by a number of marriages—he dreamed of making a house the place everybody might dwell in luxurious and the place he might host gatherings worthy of a champion. The undertaking finally value greater than $30 million, an nearly unheard-of sum for a non-public residence on the time. For almost 15 years, Holyfield proudly lived within the mansion along with his household, usually showcasing it as a neighborhood landmark. The property even grew to become a cease on Atlanta celeb residence excursions, a gleaming testomony to Holyfield’s rise from humble beginnings to boxing greatness.
Constructing the Largest Home in Georgia
What Holyfield in-built Fayette County was staggering in each scale and ambition. The principle home spanned roughly 54,000 sq. toes and contained 109 rooms, together with 12 bedrooms and 21 loos. By sq. footage, it was the biggest single-family residence in Georgia, dwarfing even the mansions of Atlanta’s wealthiest enterprise figures. Holyfield constructed a mansion 5 instances bigger than the house that initially stood on the land—he even gave that smaller home to his mom to dwell in. The sheer dimension and value of sustaining Villa Vittoriosa would ultimately show overwhelming, however throughout its prime, it was in contrast to the rest within the South.
The structure and facilities embodied extra in each attainable means. The grand entrance featured twin sweeping staircases, marble flooring, and a large sundial mosaic. A proper eating room might seat as much as 100 friends, and the mansion included a two-lane bowling alley, a non-public movie show, an indoor lap pool, a racquetball court docket, a boxing health club, and even a recording studio. Open air, the property supplied tennis courts, a softball area with a lighted scoreboard, two personal fishing lakes, and one of many largest residential swimming swimming pools in America—a 350,000-gallon Olympic-sized masterpiece surrounded by fountains and manicured lawns. Villa Vittoriosa was not only a residence; it was a monument to Evander Holyfield’s dominance and the lavish spirit of Nineteen Nineties celeb wealth.
Holyfield’s Excessive Life and Mounting Troubles
Behind the glamour, although, the prices of sustaining such an infinite property started to mount. The mansion value round $1 million per 12 months to function. The electrical invoice alone was reportedly $17,000 a month, and that was earlier than factoring in employees salaries, landscaping, safety, and property taxes. As his boxing profession slowed down within the 2000s, these bills grew to become more durable to cowl.
On high of that, Holyfield’s private obligations had been substantial. He had gone by means of a number of divorces and was paying roughly $500,000 per 12 months in little one help. He additionally confronted IRS debt and different enterprise losses.
Evander took out a $10 million mortgage on the house, which later ballooned to $14 million after refinancing. By 2008, the cracks had been displaying. The mansion went into foreclosures proceedings for the primary time that 12 months, although Holyfield briefly staved it off by putting a take care of the financial institution. However the monetary pressure continued, and by 2012, the property was lastly repossessed by JPMorgan Chase after years of missed funds, and entered the foreclosures course of.
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Rick Ross Swoops In
The property sat in the marketplace for almost years, drawing loads of consideration however few critical gives. In early 2014, it lastly discovered a purchaser: Rick Ross. Ross later mentioned he used to drive previous the mansion and dream of proudly owning it at some point. When he noticed a “For Sale” signal go up, he instantly made a suggestion.
Ross bought the property for $5.8 million, an unimaginable discount in comparison with the $30 million Holyfield had spent constructing it. Inside a couple of years, Ross purchased one other 87 acres of neighboring property to broaden his area to roughly 322 acres. He renamed the property “The Promise Land.”
“The Promise Land” grew to become a centerpiece of his model—showing in music movies, social media posts, and journal spreads. It wasn’t only a place to dwell; it was a residing monument to what rap superstardom might purchase.
The mansion’s huge dimension made it perfect for leisure and manufacturing, and he quickly opened its doorways to Hollywood. In 2021, “The Promise Land” grew to become the royal palace of Zamunda in “Coming 2 America,” the sequel to Eddie Murphy’s iconic comedy. The movie’s manufacturing crew redecorated the inside with gold accents, elaborate chandeliers, and a custom-built 50-seat eating desk—all of which Ross determined to maintain after filming wrapped. The property additionally appeared within the 2018 remake of “Superfly” and has since develop into a sought-after filming location, internet hosting music movies, commercials, and photograph shoots that showcase its jaw-dropping opulence.
Extra lately, Ross’s annual Automotive and Bike Present—held on the property since 2019—has drawn complaints from close by residents over visitors congestion and noise. In 2023, over 6,000 friends reportedly attended the occasion, flooding native roads and prompting petitions from neighbors who wished it shut down. County officers thought of restrictions, however Ross pushed again, arguing that his occasion boosted the native economic system and showcased “what’s attainable whenever you personal land.” The identical 12 months, his pet buffaloes made nationwide information after wandering off the property and into neighboring yards, startling residents and damaging fences. Authorities issued warnings, however Ross disregarded the incident, joking that his animals “simply wished to go to the neighborhood.”
From Holyfield’s championship reign to Ross’s hip-hop dynasty, the story of this property captures the American obsession with success, scale, and reinvention. What started as a boxer’s trophy has develop into a rapper’s kingdom, and thru all its transformations, the property stays a towering image of each the heights of ambition and the value of greatness.
