Spyro Malaspinas never thought of renting out his Arizona mansion until he got an offer he couldn’t refuse.
The 48-year-old cybersecurity expert bought the 6,400-square-foot, five-bedroom home in the affluent town of Paradise Valley for $7.3 million in 2022, he tells the Wall Street Journal. The home sits on about an acre of land in Paradise Valley, which is located between Phoenix and Scottsdale.
A property management firm Malaspinas already worked with approached him with an offer of $500,000 to rent out his home for a week during Super Bowl LVII in February. What he didn’t know at the time is that the person looking to lease his house was Rihanna, the Grammy-winning superstar and 2023’s halftime show headliner.
“The last thing I am is a real estate baron,” Malaspinas told The Wall Street Journal. “My pride’s not that big. I don’t mind moving out for $500,000 a week.”
The house is ideally located about a 30-minute drive away from the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., where Rihanna gave her history-making performance. The Grammy-award-winning singer used the Super Bowl to announce she is currently pregnant with her second child with her partner A$AP Rocky.
The 2023 Super Bowl was the third most-watched television show in history, with an estimated 113 million people, according to CNBC.
Malaspinas didn’t find out until after he agreed to lease his home that his week-long tenant would be Rihanna.
“My [13-year-old] daughter was absolutely thrilled,” he said.
Malaspinas told the Wall Street Journal that the rental income from that week alone would cover his mortgage payments for two years.
Since Rihanna’s stay, Malaspinas said he has yet to move back into the home. He has since been offered “crazy amounts of money” to sell the property.
Representatives for Rihanna and Malaspinas did not immediately respond to CNBC Make It’s request for comment.
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