Meet the founder of a multimillion-dollar real estate empire who lost it all following 9/11 but came back

Get to know Mike Ealy; he is an entrepreneur who turned his passion for real estate into a multi-million-dollar portfolio.

Ealy started his journey from humble beginnings. He first wanted a career in STEM. As a result, while a student at Tuskegee University, a historically Black university in Alabama, his love of math initially drew him to electrical engineering, according to Black Business.

However, things changed when he read a book that inspired him to try real estate. “I ended up being a real estate guy,” said Ealy, who was born and raised in Cincinnati.

His real estate journey started in his 20s with $3,000 he had saved from working multiple jobs. He acquired his first property using creative financing strategies he had learned from reading more books on real estate investing and business.

He subsequently acquired multiple properties and started making money. But without the right foundation and structure, he lost everything following the 9/11 tragedy and when race riots erupted in Cincinnati.

“I cannot lie, at first I was feeling defeated, like a failure, like I let myself and my family down,” he recounted. “But then I brushed myself off and used my ‘get back up muscles’ and eased myself back into the game. It was an unfortunate experience, but it taught me some important life lessons that I needed to learn early on, about the power of perseverance and adaptability. For that, I am eternally grateful,” he said.

Ealy bounced back, taking advantage of what became known as “the Great Recession” to rebuild his wealth while others were making huge losses. He now has a real estate portfolio that boasts more than 1,500 units and five hotels, valued at over $300 million, as reported by Black Business.

Today, he wants to teach others how he did it through his website where he offers webinars, courses and mentorship opportunities to aspiring investors. He also has a new venture, the Lion Capital Fund, which also helps people to build wealth. It provides investors with the opportunity to invest in existing, cash-flowing properties with limited risk, he said.

“The Lion Capital Fund is an opportunity to acquire real estate as a REIT, Real Estate Investment Trust, offering consistent returns to investors,” Ealy said. “We want to help people build wealth and be more in control of it.”

“There’s just so much opportunity out there to build wealth with real estate,” he continued. “Every investment comes with risk, but I want people to know that real estate investing is a vehicle and it’s accessible and very lucrative.”