Grant Cardone
{{Short description|American financial influencer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Grant Cardone
| image = Грант Кардон.jpg
| caption = Cardone in 2015
| birth_name = Grant Timothy Cardone
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|March 21, 1958}}
| birth_place = Lake Charles, Louisiana, U.S.
| citizenship = US
| education = LaGrange High School{{r|lagrange}}
| alma_mater = McNeese State University
| occupation = Businessman
| spouse = {{marriage|Elena Rosaia|July 4, 2004}}
| children = 2
| website = {{URL|grantcardone.com}}
}}
Grant Timothy Cardone (born March 21, 1958) is an American businessman, financial influencer, and writer. He is the founder and CEO of Cardone Capital and Cardone Training Technologies, Inc. In 2010, he wrote the New York Times bestselling book, If You're Not First, You're Last.
Early life
Cardone was born on 21 March 1958 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, US to a family of five children of Curtis Louis and Concetta Neil Cardone.{{cite web | last=Cardoso | first=Paul | title=Grant Cardone Wife, Height, Weight, Brother, Family, Biography, Other Facts | website=Naija News | date=12 April 2022 | url=https://www.naijanews.com/buzz/people/grant-cardone-wife-height-weight-brother-family-bio-other-facts/ | access-date=30 May 2025}}{{Better source needed |reason=Unreliable source; Nigerian content aggregator |date=June 2025}} His father owned a grocery store and trained as a stockbroker. His father died in 1968 when he was 10, and ten years later his brother Curtis died. Cardone attended La Grange High School in Lake Charles in 1976.{{r|lagrange}} He further studied at McNeese State University, where he obtained a degree in accounting.{{r|mcneese}} From the age of 16 through 25, Cardone struggled with drug addiction and substance abuse, overdosed three times, and finally went to a treatment center.{{r|drugaddict}}
Career
After graduating from university, Cardone worked in a sales training company, where he traveled from Lake Charles to Houston, Texas and then to La Jolla, California, where he lived for 12 years. He moved into car sales and later became the president and CEO of Freedom Motorsports Group Inc. He owns Cardone Group, Cardone Enterprises and Cardone Real Estate Holdings.{{Better source needed |reason=Unreliable source; Nigerian content aggregator |date=June 2025}}
In 2016, Forbes listed Cardone as one of the "25 Marketing Influencers To Watch In 2017".{{cite web | last=Schroeder | first=Jules | title=25 Marketing Influencers To Watch In 2017 | website=Forbes | date=29 November 2016 | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/julesschroeder/2016/11/29/25-marketing-influencers-to-watch-in-2017/ | access-date=30 May 2025 | archive-date=June 2, 2025 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602174640/https://www.forbes.com/sites/julesschroeder/2016/11/29/25-marketing-influencers-to-watch-in-2017/ | url-status=live }} {{As of|2023}}, HuffPost estimated that Cardone has 2.4 million subscribers on YouTube; 4.4 million and 6.8 million followers on Instagram and Facebook respectively. Cordone has written five books: The 10X Rule, Sell or Be Sold, Closers Survival Guide, If You’re Not First, You’re Last; and sell to survive. He contributes to Fox & Friends and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, appeared on CNBC, CNN.{{Better source needed |reason=Unreliable source; Nigerian content aggregator |date=June 2025}} He has also appeared on Turnaround King and Undercover Billionaire. In late 2024, Cardone launched a bitcoin real estate fund.{{citation | last=Taylor | first=Julie | title=Property Mogul Grant Cardone Launches 'First Ever' Bitcoin Real Estate Fund on Florida's Space Coast | date=21 December 2024 | url=https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/grant-cardone-bitcoin-real-estate-fund-florida-space-coast/ | language=en-US | access-date=30 May 2025 | page=}}
Legal issues
= Cardone Training Technologies =
In 2015 and 2016, several former employees of Cardone Training Technologies filed religious discrimination complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that they were fired for refusing to take Scientology training courses disingenuously renamed as "L. Ron Hubbard training".{{r|EEOC}}
Cardone's company has sued several clients who could no longer afford the hefty monthly payments on their training contracts. Having no termination clauses, clients were sued for tens of thousands of dollars of remaining balances on their contracts.{{r|huff}}
= Cardone Capital =
Cardone Capital purchases and manages large quantities of multifamily rental properties and sells shares in the pooled investment. Cardone Capital's funds have a buy-in as low as $1,000. In 2024 Cardone Capital claimed to have approximately four billion dollars in assets under management. Using his social media and other communication channels, Cardone tells potential investors that they should view "their own houses as a money-sinking liability rather than a real estate asset", that they should rent, and invest their money in his funds, which he has guaranteed 15% annualized returns. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned him to moderate his sales pitches.{{r|hustle}}
In 2020, a client sued Grant Cardone and Cardone Capital, LLC for violating SEC regulations regarding potential misstatements or omissions. The lawsuit, a putative class action, cited Cardone's own words: "You're gonna walk away with a 15% annualized return. If I'm in that deal for 10 years, you're gonna earn 150%. You can tell the SEC that's what I said it would be. They call me Uncle G and some people call me Nostradamus, because I'm predicting the future, dude; this is what's gonna happen." A Federal District Court in California dismissed the plaintiff's claims, saying that statements on social media were not actionable under the Securities Act, but the US Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal, stating that "sellers of securities that use social media communications to communicate with prospective investors are engaged in solicitation that can be actionable under the Securities Act".{{r|huff}}{{cite web |title=Court revives lawsuit against 10X wealth guru Grant Cardone |date=December 23, 2022 |first=Brian |last=Bandell |work=South Florida Business Journal |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2022/12/23/court-revives-lawsuit-against-grant-cardone.html}}{{cite web |title=Grant Cardone is back on the hook in a class action suit |date=December 28, 2022 |first=Francisco |last=Alvarado |work=The Real Deal |url=https://therealdeal.com/miami/2022/12/28/grant-cardone-is-back-on-the-hook-in-a-class-action-suit/ |access-date=July 22, 2023 |archive-date=July 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722092815/https://therealdeal.com/miami/2022/12/28/grant-cardone-is-back-on-the-hook-in-a-class-action-suit/ |url-status=live }} An amended complaint was filed in 2023 by a family member of the plaintiff who had died since the original filing.{{r|hustle}}
{{blockquote |text=Paul Pelletier, who was the Department of Justice's most senior fraud prosecutor during a 25-year career at the agency, reviewed the documents in the class action case against Cardone. "It looks like his business is built on lies and deception that will likely collapse leaving investors holding an empty bag," he said. |source=BuzzFeed News{{r|huff}}}}
A 2022 investigative report by The Palm Beach Post showed that from 2018 to 2021 Cardone Capital-owned Miami-area apartment complex Wellington Club overcharged tenants for workforce housing — a government program to provide discounted housing in high-cost-of-living areas to renters employed in key industries such as nursing, teaching and firefighting who would otherwise be priced out of their service area. According to the report, this allowed Wellington Club to boost profits while suppressing the county's workforce housing program in a county with limited affordable housing.{{cite web |title=Cardone's Lake Worth workforce housing complex found overcharging tenants |date=December 13, 2022 |work=The Real Deal |url=https://therealdeal.com/miami/2022/12/13/cardones-lake-worth-workforce-housing-complex-found-overcharging-tenants/ |url-access=subscription |first=Kate |last=Hinsche |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222101817/https://therealdeal.com/miami/2022/12/13/cardones-lake-worth-workforce-housing-complex-found-overcharging-tenants/ |archive-date=December 22, 2022}}{{Cite web |title=Tenants in county's largest workforce housing site overcharged by hundreds for years |url=https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/local/2022/12/12/workforce-housing-large-palm-beach-county-site-overcharged-tenants/10756539002/ |date=December 12, 2022 |first=Andrew |last=Marra |work=The Palm Beach Post}}
=Others=
On a 2023 livestream, Cardone got in a heated dispute with his friend John Legere who told him that "You are the biggest bullshit artist on the planet," called him "a con man of the highest order" and a "fucking fraud."{{cite web |last1=Caputo |first1=Liv |title='Bullsh-t Artist and Fraud': Ex T-Mobile CEO Loses Motion to Dismiss Defamation Case With Trump-Aligned Business Man |url=https://floridianpress.com/2024/05/bullsh-t-artist-and-fraud-ex-t-mobile-ceo-loses-motion-to-dismiss-defamation-case-with-trump-aligned-business-man/ |date=May 14, 2024 |work=The Floridian |access-date=21 February 2025 |archive-date=January 15, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250115143716/https://floridianpress.com/2024/05/bullsh-t-artist-and-fraud-ex-t-mobile-ceo-loses-motion-to-dismiss-defamation-case-with-trump-aligned-business-man/ |url-status=live }} In January 2024, Cardone sued Legere for $100 million, alleging defamation.{{cite web |last1=Lowell |first1=Hugo |title=Former T-Mobile chief denied bid to dismiss $100m defamation suit from Trump ally |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/16/tmobile-executive-defamation-lawsuit-trump |work=The Guardian |access-date=21 February 2025}}{{cite web |last1=Willis |first1=Lisa |title=Social Media Celebrities Clash in 100m Lawsuit |url=https://www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/2024/12/26/social-media-celebrities-clash-in-100m-lawsuit/?slreturn=20250530174002 |website=Law.com |access-date=30 May 2025}} In August, Cardone rejected an offer from Legere to settle out of court,{{cite web |last1=Lowell |first1=Hugo |date=August 25, 2024 |title=Former T-Mobile CEO to be deposed in $100m defamation suit from Trump ally |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/25/tmobile-ceo-trump-ally-defamation-suit |work=The Guardian |access-date=21 February 2025}} and the parties agreed to a confidential settlement in January 2025.{{cite web |last1=Willis |first1=Lisa |title='Full-Throated Apology': Legal Theory in the Grant Cardone/John Legere Feud |url=https://www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/2025/01/13/full-throated-apology-legal-theory-in-the-grant-cardonejohn-legere-feud/?slreturn=20250530173657 |website=law.com |access-date=30 May 2025}}
In 2024 Cardone sued Formula One Group and Hard Rock Cafe alleging that his expensive watch had been stolen during a Miami Grand Prix event as a result of lax security.{{cite web |last1=Alvereido |first1=Francesco |title=Grant Cardone sues Hard Rock Stadium, F1 over stolen $750K watch |url=https://therealdeal.com/miami/2022/11/15/grant-cardone-sues-hard-rock-stadium-f1-over-stolen-750k-watch/ |website=therealdeal.com |publisher=The Real Deal |access-date=30 May 2025}}
In 2025 a Las Vegas woman was charged with stealing millions from seven influencers including $2.3 million from the Cardones.{{cite web |last1=Murphy |first1=Vanessa |title=High-profile influencers at center of multi-million-dollar Las Vegas theft case |url=https://www.8newsnow.com/investigators/high-profile-influencers-at-center-of-multi-million-dollar-las-vegas-theft-case/ |website=8newsnow.com |publisher=8 News Now |access-date=18 May 2025 |archive-date=May 16, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250516064212/https://www.8newsnow.com/investigators/high-profile-influencers-at-center-of-multi-million-dollar-las-vegas-theft-case/ |url-status=live }}
Personal life
Cardone married Elena Rosaia Lyons on July 4, 2004. They have two daughters.{{Cite web |title=Who is Grant Cardone's Wife? Elena Lyons' Kids & Relationship History |url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/grant-cardone-wife-elena-lyons-095156017.html |date=November 19, 2024 |first=Ritika |last=Singh |work=Y! Entertainment |access-date=February 23, 2025 |archive-date=April 17, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250417033759/https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/grant-cardone-wife-elena-lyons-095156017.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://elenacardone.com/about/ |title=About |website=elenacardone.com |access-date=June 16, 2023 |archive-date=June 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616102056/https://elenacardone.com/about/ |url-status=live }} The Cardones reside in Golden Beach, Florida and Malibu, California.{{cite news |last=Bandell |first=Brian |date=June 4, 2021 |title=Fashion icon Tommy Hilfiger sells Golden Beach mansion for $24M (Photos) |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2021/06/04/tommy-hilfiger-sells-golden-beach-home.html |work=South Florida Business Journal |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20230616080609/https://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2021/06/04/tommy-hilfiger-sells-golden-beach-home.html |archive-date=June 16, 2023 |access-date=April 12, 2023 |url-status=live }}{{multiref2 |1={{cite news |last=McClain |first=James |date=January 19, 2022 |title=Grant Cardone Pays $40 Million for Huge Carbon Beach Mansion |url=https://www.dirt.com/gallery/moguls/power-players/grant-cardone-house-malibu-1203447529/ |work=dirt.com }}{{Dead link|date=February 2025 }} |2={{cite web |url=https://www.fancypantshomes.com/celebrity-homes/grant-cardone-house/ |title=Grant Cardone's Houses: A $40M 'Castle on the Sand' and a Wildly Colorful Main Residence in Florida |last=Neamt |first=Ioana |date=March 10, 2022 |website=fancypantshomes.com |access-date=April 12, 2023 |archive-date=April 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412052742/https://www.fancypantshomes.com/celebrity-homes/grant-cardone-house/ |url-status=live }}}} Cardone is a Scientologist, and according to The Village Voice he had reached the OT VIII level as of 2011.{{multiref2 |1={{cite web |url=http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/06/grant_cardone_t.php |title=Grant Cardone, NatGeo's 'Turnaround King': Doing Scientology's Dirty Work? |date=June 20, 2011 |first=Tony |last=Ortega |author-link=Tony Ortega |work=The Village Voice |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624035927/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/06/grant_cardone_t.php |archive-date=June 24, 2011}} |2={{cite web |url=http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/06/milton_katselas.php |title=Milton Katselas Pleads With Scientology After Grant Cardone's Attack: A Church Jihad? |date=June 24, 2011 |first=Tony |last=Ortega |author-link=Tony Ortega |work=The Village Voice |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110627141939/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/06/milton_katselas.php |archive-date=June 27, 2011}}}} Elena is also a Scientologist and the couple are major donators to the Church of Scientology.{{r|elena-scn}}
Elena fundraised for Kari Lake in 2024 and is active in her husband's businesses.{{cite web |last1=Skalka |first1=Liz |date=February 8, 2024 |title=The Wife of a Controversial Influencer Is Hosting a Fundraiser for Kari Lake |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kari-lake-elena-cardone_n_65c3baa7e4b0dbc806af011d |work=HuffPost |access-date=21 February 2025 |archive-date=September 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240928074831/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kari-lake-elena-cardone_n_65c3baa7e4b0dbc806af011d |url-status=live }} Following the New York business fraud lawsuit against the Trump Organization, Elena set up a GoFundMe to help Donald Trump pay off his multimillion-dollar legal judgments.{{cite web |last1=Fung |first1=Gloria |date=March 8, 2024 |title=Meet the millionaires who started a GoFundMe for Donald Trump: Elena and Grant Cardone are raising funds to pay the former president's fine – while Grant 'goes broke' twice a year to pay less tax |url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3254535/meet-millionaires-who-started-gofundme-donald-trump-elena-and-grant-cardone-are-raising-funds-pay |work=South China Morning Post |access-date=21 February 2025 |archive-date=March 16, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250316124209/https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3254535/meet-millionaires-who-started-gofundme-donald-trump-elena-and-grant-cardone-are-raising-funds-pay |url-status=live }} Cardone has been a consistent supporter of Donald Trump, and even engaged Trump as the headliner at one of Cardone's 10X conferences in 2022.
Published works
- {{cite book |title=If You're Not First, You're Last |year=2010 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=9780470624357}}
- {{cite book |title=The 10X Rule |year=2011 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=9780470627600}}
- {{cite book |title=Sell or Be Sold (also known as Sell to Survive) |year=2012 |publisher=Greenleaf Book Group |isbn=9780615399249 |ol=26106443M}}
- {{cite book |title=Be Obsessed or Be Average |year=2016 |publisher=Portfolio |isbn=9781101981054}}
References
{{reflist|refs=
{{Multiref2 |1={{Cite AV media |title=Grant Cardone - Once Addicted To Drugs Now An Undercover Billionaire |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmHoxpmMR0Q |date=May 16, 2021 |website=YouTube |access-date=June 11, 2025 |archive-date=June 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230622232332/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmHoxpmMR0Q |url-status=live }} |2={{cite news |last=Basotia |first=Jyotsna |date=January 20, 2021 |title=What is Grant Cardone's net worth? Meet the 'Undercover Billionaire' entrepreneur who was a drug addict at 25 |url=https://meaww.com/grant-cardone-net-worth-undercover-billionaire-entrepreneur-drug-addict-25-success-mantra-discovery |work=Media Entertainment Arts WorldWide (MEAWW) }} |3={{cite web |url=https://medium.com/@grantcardone/from-drug-addict-to-billionaire-my-story-c671c303147e |title=From Drug Addict to Billionaire: My Story |last=Cardone |first=Grant |date=February 24, 2022 |website=Medium |access-date=September 14, 2023 |archive-date=December 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215215925/https://medium.com/@grantcardone/from-drug-addict-to-billionaire-my-story-c671c303147e |url-status=live }} }}
{{cite web |title=Financial Influencer Grant Cardone Says He Can Make You A Billionaire. His Investors Claim He Defrauded Them. |date=July 20, 2023 |first=Tom |last=Warren |work=HuffPost |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/grant-cardone-financial-influencer_n_64ada368e4b0e87d65574e9b |access-date=July 22, 2023 |archive-date=July 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722092813/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/grant-cardone-financial-influencer_n_64ada368e4b0e87d65574e9b |url-status=live }}
{{cite magazine |last1=Gabert-Doyon |first1=Josh |date=August 29, 2023 |title=The Real Estate Hustle-Culture Con That's Exploiting Investors and Wrecking the Housing Market |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/172775/grant-cardone-hustle-culture-real-estate |magazine=The New Republic |access-date=21 February 2025 |archive-date=March 26, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250326105103/https://newrepublic.com/article/172775/grant-cardone-hustle-culture-real-estate |url-status=live }}
{{Cite book |url=https://louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/cppl-calcasieu%3A224 |title=Résumé '76 |publisher=LaGrange High School |year=1976 |publication-place=Lake Charles, Louisiana |pages=125, 145, 203 |via=Louisiana Digital Library}}
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardone, Grant}}
Category:American businesspeople in real estate
Category:Businesspeople from Louisiana
Category:American people of Italian descent
Category:Real estate and property developers