Nipsey Hussle Invested in Las Vegas Casino Before Death

Nipsey Hussle was a savvy businessman.

The hip-hop impresario owned 14 businesses prior to his death including his All Money In record label and Marathon Clothing store. Additionally, he owned his master recordings as well as real estate. Now, according to a new report, Nipsey had also invested in a Las Vegas casino that is set to open in 2020.

On Monday (April 15), Nipsey’s business partner, David Gross, revealed that he and Nipsey were approached by senior executives from Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Hotels about investing in the hospitality space following their failed bid for the Viceroy Santa Monica.

“This is the meeting a couple months later, that would result in us becoming partial owners, not a hotel… But a resort and casino in the desert,” wrote Gross alongside a photo them leaving McCarran Airport’s private Atlantic Ation terminal in Vegas. “The Virgin Las Vegas coming 2020 #legend #facts.”

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“Spoke some things into the universe and they appeared…” . You always emphasized how important articulating a vision was to actually executing . We always planned to tell the story behind these pictures but didn’t get the chance to because we were busy executing on the next idea, and each successive opportunity got bigger and bigger… . This moment deserves sharing because this was a full circle moment. The significance and symbolism this was pround for both us because this was us realizing the American Dream at a high level; we took different paths, but both started with no money, connections or a legacy roadmap that got us to this moment. . This was about 4 months after our syndicate (@djkhaled, @luoldeng9, @rdpeebles) put in a bid for the Viceroy Santa Monica. We were unsuccessful in that but we still shared our attempt with the world. Some people were puzzled why we would share a “failure” but we knew… . A few weeks later, senior execs from Virgin Hotels reached out to Atlantic (@dallaslifestyle) to meet with us to see if we were serious about being in the hospitality space. We were 👌🏽 . This is the meeting a couple months later, that would result in us becoming partial owners, not a hotel… But a resort and casino in the desert… . The Virgin Las Vegas coming 2020 #legend #facts #TheMarathonContinues 🏁

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But according to Hard Rock Hotel property partner and CEO Richard “Boz” Bosworth, Gross’ report is “a big overstatement,” adding that Nipsey was a “minority investor in a partnership, which was managed by David Gross.” The rapper invested as part a collective called the Confluent Group, which also includes Carmelo Anthony.

“Hussle was an investor in David Gross’s firm, which made an investment in another fund, which made an investment in J.C. Hospitality,” Bosworth tells the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “They are three steps removed from being a partner in the property.”

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, located roughly a mile east the Strip, is set to undergo a $200 million transformation to turn it into the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas. When complete, the property will feature 1,504 guestrooms, a 60,000-square-foot casino, and several pools across five acres, according to Casino.org.

Nipsey had invested in multiple businesses to ensure his financial security. Following his passing, his family has respectfully turned down charity fers. He reportedly set up multiple trust funds to make sure his kids and family would never need a handout.

In addition to running his popular Marathon Clothing store, he was also involved in Destination Crenshaw, a beautification project to turn a 1.3 mile stretch Crenshaw Blvd. into an open-air art museum.