According to one of hip-hop’s wealthiest players, Rick Ross, he has the key to financial success.
Ross, whose net worth is reportedly $45 million, revealed the secret in a 2017 interview that has resurfaced on social media.
The Miami-based rapper and Wingstop businessman discussed the importance of investing and offered advice for those seeking wealth.
Invest, Invest, Invest
While discussing his business activities with Hot 102.9 hosts J Nicks and DJ Kash, Ross said he made $1 million from his investments in a once-failing Wingstop he owned.
Rick Ross, whose real name is William Leonard Roberts II, paid $280,000 for a Wingstop and made a million dollars in one year with his crew after the location struggled for three years.
The radio hosts wanted to know how he turned a profit on the struggling location. The rapper simply stated that hiring family to help run his businesses has an empowering effect.
“Staying rich, the biggest kinks to that empowering your circle, empowering your family, because you being rich and everyone being broke next to you, it only going to be for so long before you get jam up,” Rick Ross said. “But if you can make an investment that empower them, they don’t need to ask you for everything.”
He added, “If you with this [referring to his Wingstop business], I am going to make sure you would make more than you would anywhere else.”
Ross and Wingstop
Ross told J Nicks and DJ Kash that he now owns about 30 locations as a franchise owner, and his ownership is tied to his business, Boss Wings Enterprises LLC in Mississippi, along with his mother Tommie Roberts and sister Tawanda Roberts.
“Start with your family first,” Rick Ross said while giving business advice.
In 2013, Rick Ross became a franchisee and acquired multiple Wingstop locations. His love for the brand and its food has been evident throughout his career, as he frequently references Wingstop in his music.
“I just love Wingstop,” Ross told Forbes in 2014 while touring one of his locations. “As you can see, the energy in here is always fun. It’s always youthful. Not only that, you know they got my favorite lemon pepper wings in the world, so it’s just a natural attraction.”
Perhaps his love for Wingstop is deeper than crispy goodness of fried chicken; the business is a way he can support his family and friends.
This couldn’t have been more evident when he gifted his son William L. Roberts III a Wingstop franchise in 2021 for his 16th birthday. Ross shared the news on Instagram with a post that read: “Everyone wish my son @mmgbigbank HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY!!!” he captioned the post. “Today, he became the owner of his 1st @wingstop franchise. [You’re] now officially a BOSS!!! Keep Going.”
Family Fined for Violations
Working with family has also had its hiccups. In 2022, the government fined Ross and his family members over multiple Wingstop restaurant violations. The fine was issued by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division for several violations regarding workers’ pay. The agency announced it has collected $114,427 “in back wages, liquidated damages and civil penalties” from five Wingstop locations in the state operated by Boss Wing Enterprises, Atlanta News First reported.
