The business of real estate has the power to turn lives around and Ben Mallah’s story is proof of that. He came from poverty and made millions from buying and selling properties. He owns a significant amount of high-value residential and commercial real estate across the US, particularly Florida. As of 2024, Ben Mallah has a net worth of $250 million.
Early Life
Benjamin Mallah was born on October 29, 1965, in Queens, New York and grew up in the Rockaway Peninsula with three siblings. Their mother was a nurse, and their father was a factory worker.
His childhood was hard because they were poor, and their parents didn’t care much about them. It also didn’t help that they were raised in a neighborhood with a high crime rate. Ben was a good student but dropped out of high school without a plan. At 14, he developed a talent for hustling people out of money.
Humble Beginnings
He joined the US Army when he turned 18 and served a spell in Germany. In 1987, Mallah was later stationed at Oakland, California and would help colleagues with various tasks in their apartments. During his lunch break he picked up trash and this didn’t go unnoticed.
Ben left the army to become a property manager at Wilton’s Marwil Investments. A property owner liked his strong work ethic and put him in charge of multiple buildings. Here he learned the basics of how the real estate industry worked and this experience would prove highly valuable in the future.
Rise to Riches
After saving up enough cash from his first job, Mallah started his own business, Equity Management Partners Inc. His strategy involved buying abandoned buildings in California and flipping them for a profit. Overtime, he kept re-investing his profits into larger deals and invested into hotels.
In 2012, he sold a hotel for more than double the price he paid for it! His hotel investments include Ramada Tampa Airport Westshore, Sheraton Orlando International Drive, and Sheraton Suites Tampa Airport Westshore.
With his vast experience, he decided to share his story on the internet. He created his website, BenMallah.com, which features his podcast and expert tips. He also started a YouTube channel, which now has 942,000 subscribers.
Net Worth and Earnings
Ben Mallah is an expert at closing deals in high-end real estate. He reportedly made $3 million in profit on his first deal alone. One of his best returns was from selling Best Western Bay Harbor for a $19.25 million profit.
In July 2023, he took advantage of the market recovery and sold his Fort Lauderdale hotel for $28 million as reported by therealdeal.com. The hotel has 252 rooms, the deal worked out at roughly $111,111 per room. According to an interview with St Pete Catalyst, he’s selling some assets because of the rise in interest rates.
Since getting into the real estate industry, Ben has flipped over 4,000 homes. Many of these are worth tens of millions. There’s also his undisclosed earnings from his hotels, podcast, website, and YouTube channel.
Based on data from SocialBlade.com, Mallah’s YouTube channel receives around 7 million views every month, this makes him an estimated $20,000 to $30,000 per month in YouTube ad revenue. Not that he needs another income source but Ben sells merch and is a consultant. According to his website a one hour private meeting in Tampa will cost you $2,000! As an alternative, you can pay $350 for a 15-minute phone call.
Personal Life
Mallah is married to Karla Nila, the pair met when they lived together in the same building. Nila was 14 years old at the time and Ben was 34 years old. To get closer to Karla, Ben chose her grandfather to be the maintenance manager. The couple live in the most expensive home in Tampa. Ben owns a range of vintage cars and a $3 million yacht.
