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Nicholas Riccio (born c. 1965) is an American real estate developer based in New Hampshire. A self-made multi-millionaire, he built his fortune by purchasing and renovating distressed properties, especially around Hampton Beach, N.H. Recently, he has been trending on the internet after Riccio became a father for the second time, with his wife, Karoline, announcing the birth of a baby girl on May 7, 2026.
Early Days of His Life
Riccio grew up in New Hampshire after a turbulent childhood. He and his three siblings were raised by parents Marilyn and Anthony Riccio, who divorced when he was young. His family moved frequently. He eventually graduated from Alvirne High School in Hudson, N.H., in 1983. His mother died of cancer at age 60 in 1997, and his father also died at 60 in 2002.
Riccio attended Plymouth State University (then Plymouth State College) after high school. He has said he often struggled financially in college – sometimes sleeping in his car and stocking shelves at a grocery store to pay bills. He graduated from Plymouth State (timeline c. late 1980s) and later took a specialized real estate course in 1990. Those formative years taught him self-reliance and perseverance, fueling his later success in business.
Real Estate Career and Business
Riccio launched his real estate career in the early 1990s. His breakthrough came in 1993 when he and his mother stumbled upon a rundown block of rental homes on “M Street” at Hampton Beach during a drive. Recognizing the potential, he bought the first building without any down payment. Over the next few decades, he gradually purchased and rehabilitated dozens of properties in the area. By the mid-2000s, Riccio owned 15 buildings (about 70 units) on M Street and had turned them into profitable family rentals. Local officials credited him with improving a previously blighted neighbourhood. Today Riccio still lives on M Street and is widely regarded as a pioneer of Hampton Beach’s resurgence.
His company, Riccio Enterprises, LLC, is headquartered in Hampton Falls, NH. Under his leadership, the firm expanded beyond the beach to other New Hampshire towns and even into Maine and Massachusetts in earlier years. As of 2025, his portfolio includes more than 15 rental properties around Hampton Beach. Riccio himself has called Riccio Enterprises a “multimillion-dollar” business.
Beyond rentals, Riccio branched into hospitality: he markets vacation stays under the “Nautical Beach Properties” brand. Notably, Riccio harbours a long-held dream of owning a professional sports team. He has been publicly photographed collecting sports memorabilia at his home (even talking baseball with President George W. Bush during Bush’s visit to New Hampshire). He often says he sees sports ownership as “the next step” for his career.
Relationship: Marriage to Karoline Leavitt
Karoline Leavitt, a 24-year-old Congressional candidate, met Riccio in mid-2022 at a New Hampshire Republican event. They became friend and eventually fell in love later that year. The relationship became public when they announced their engagement on Christmas Day 2023 via an Instagram post. Finally, in January 2025, Riccio married Karoline, just days before President Trump’s second inauguration. Finally, in January 2025, Riccio married Karoline, just days before President Trump’s second inauguration. They have 2 children: a son, Nicholas Robert “Niko” Riccio, and a daughter, Viviana “Vivi” Riccio. Niko was born on July 10, 2024, and his sister, Vivi, was born on May 7, 2026. Karoline announced Vivi’s birth on Instagram on May 7, 2026, saying, “She is perfect and healthy, and her big brother is joyfully adjusting”.
The main public interest in Riccio centres on his marriage and age gap with Karoline Leavitt. Media outlets have labelled their relationship “unusual” or “atypical”. Karoline herself has addressed criticism in interviews, but emphasizes that once her family got to know Riccio, they fully accepted him. Online commentators sometimes mock the couple’s appearance differences, but there are no allegations of wrongdoing by him. In interviews, Karoline has called him introverted and said he values privacy. Most of what is publicly known about Riccio and his relationship comes from Leavitt’s statements and media coverage.
