Rick Fox’s company unveiled a model home at Arawak Cay in The Bahamas in October 2023. By May 2026, it was still the site’s only structure, The Tribune reported. The promised pilot homes had not been completed, and the people involved offered different explanations for the delay. It’s a useful place to start: fame and funding can attract attention, but neither builds a business on its own.
The five people here took very different routes. Fox and real estate broker Kofi Nartey acted on screen. Chamillionaire and Master P made their names in music. Byron Allen began in comedy and television, then grew a media company while continuing to work in entertainment. Their businesses range from construction materials and real estate to startup investing, consumer goods, and broadcast media.
Rick Fox Took Climate Materials From the Lab to a Model Home
Rick Fox was known first as a professional basketball player, then as an actor in shows including HBO’s Oz and Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns. After retiring from basketball, he stayed in television and entertainment and co-founded Partanna with architect Sam Marshall. The company makes building materials from industrial byproducts and promotes them as a lower-carbon alternative to conventional cement-based products.
Partanna’s plans in The Bahamas have changed in scale and detail over time. At COP27 in 2022, the government and company announced a 30-home pilot. Later coverage described a goal of as many as 1,000 homes over three years. The January 2024 Heads of Agreement set out a 30-home pilot and a manufacturing plant at Arawak Cay, with the possibility of building up to 1,000 homes a year after the plant was in place. Partanna had unveiled its model home the previous October. The company raised $12 million in pre-seed financing in 2023, TechCrunch reported.
There’s been nothing more rewarding for me in my life than to be a part of this team where we’re leaving something behind.
— Rick Fox
By May 2026, the Arawak Cay model home remained the site’s only structure. The government offered Partanna 30 lots in Abaco in October 2025 and received no response. Report said the company had enough financing and chose not to build. A source close to Partanna disputed that account, saying the company was ready to begin once land and supporting infrastructure were available; Fox held the same position.
Partanna says its materials passed independent engineering tests and are approved for structural use under Bahamian building codes, according to the company’s construction page. Whether a product can be used in a building is one part of the challenge. A housing project also needs sites, utilities, supply chains, financing, and buyers—and Partanna’s pilot had not yet reached that stage.
Kofi Nartey Found a Niche in Luxury Real Estate
Kofi Nartey’s acting credits include Fast & Furious, Modern Family, True Blood, and Psych, according to his biography. He later carried his connections in sports and entertainment into luxury real estate.
In 2020, Nartey founded Society Real Estate + Development with Side, a company that supplied brokerage technology and back-office support. The firm became GLOBL RED the following year. In its rebranding announcement, it reported activity across 20 Los Angeles neighborhoods, with listings or sales in six states and eight countries. The company also said it was negotiating more than $200 million in international real estate and development deals. That was the value of deals under negotiation, not closed sales or revenue. In 2023, The Real Deal reported that Nartey moved his team’s affiliation to The Real Brokerage.
Nartey built around a defined clientele rather than a large property portfolio of his own. His sports and entertainment focus gave the brokerage a clear identity; partnerships provided some of the infrastructure a smaller firm needs to operate. The move to a new brokerage affiliation suggests the model continued to evolve.
Chamillionaire Used His Network to Find Startup Deals
Chamillionaire, born Hakeem Seriki, first became known as a musician. In 2015, he joined Los Angeles venture firm Upfront Ventures as an entrepreneur in residence. He later began investing directly and bringing co-investors into deals.
Seriki’s investment website says he has invested in more than 60 technology companies, including Maker Studios, Cruise, and Lyft. It also describes a syndicate model, in which he pools early-stage investments with other investors. He also launched Convoz, a video conversation app, in 2018. His public profile could help draw founders and co-investors to a new venture.
Master P Kept No Limit’s Masters
Master P rose to prominence in the 1990s as a rapper, building a loyal fan base through independent releases and hit albums such as Ghetto D. Percy Robert “Master P” Miller built No Limit Records after opening a record store in Richmond, California, and selling independent releases. In 1996, Miller reached an agreement with Priority Records. Priority handled manufacturing and distribution; No Limit kept ownership of its master recordings. A 1997 Los Angeles Times profile said Miller also retained ownership of his studio.
Owning my own company was important, because instead of being signed to a label and maybe at best making 15% of the money, now I make 100%—giving away 15% for distribution if I choose to.
— Percy Robert “Master P” Miller
Years later, he used a different kind of partnership in consumer goods. Broadus Foods, his venture with Snoop Dogg, partnered with Post Consumer Brands on Snoop Cereal in 2023. Post said it would manage production, research and development, sales, and supply-chain support, while Broadus Foods handled marketing and promotion. Post also said the company would donate part of the proceeds to charities addressing homelessness and food insecurity.
Byron Allen Grew From Host to Media Owner
Byron Allen was 18 when he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He later co-hosted NBC’s Real People. In 1993, he founded Entertainment Studios, which became Allen Media Group, and began building a business in production, distribution, and media ownership.
The company grew from low-cost nonfiction programming into syndicated shows, cable networks, broadcast stations, and digital media. Its portfolio has shifted, too. In 2026, Gray Media completed a $171 million purchase of television stations from Allen Media Group in ten markets.
Allen described the acquisition strategy in a 2021 profile: “We look at ourselves as a private equity company acquiring media assets that can work together.” The profile reported his estimate of about $300 million in annual EBITDA cash flow and a valuation in the single-digit billions. His $310 million purchase of The Weather Channel’s television assets in 2018 put the strategy into practice.
Allen has continued to host and produce while building the company. The 2026 station sale is a reminder that owning media assets doesn’t mean holding them forever. Companies sell and buy as financing and markets change.
Five Different Routes to Ownership
Fox has backed climate-focused building materials; Nartey built a real estate brand around a specialty; Chamillionaire invested in startups; Master P kept recording rights and partnered on consumer goods; Allen assembled—and has begun reshaping—a media portfolio. There isn’t one formula connecting their businesses. What they share is an effort to hold a stake in what they created or to build a company around the access their public careers gave them.
The numbers attached to these ventures describe very different things: money raised, deals under negotiation, the number of investments, and a founder’s estimate of cash flow. None can stand in for a personal net worth or a company’s current value. Partnerships brought each business a different kind of help, from distribution and technology to production capacity. The work of finding customers, financing growth, and delivering the product remained with the business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which people in the article had acting careers?
Rick Fox and Kofi Nartey acted on screen. Chamillionaire and Master P became known for music, while Byron Allen started in stand-up and television.
Did Byron Allen leave entertainment?
No. He moved into media ownership while continuing to host and produce television programming through Allen Media Group.
What did Master P retain in the Priority deal?
No Limit kept ownership of its master recordings while Priority handled manufacturing and distribution. The Los Angeles Times also reported that Miller retained his studio.
Did Partanna build 1,000 homes?
No. That was a future target, not a completed project. The reported agreement called for a 30-home pilot, with the possibility of up to 1,000 homes a year after a manufacturing plant was built. By May 2026, The Tribune reported that the Arawak Cay site still had only the model home and the pilot homes were unfinished.
What is GLOBL RED?
It is the luxury real estate brand Nartey founded. The company said in 2021 that it was negotiating more than $200 million in international deals; in 2023, Nartey moved his team to The Real Brokerage.
Is Chamillionaire’s portfolio worth $50 million?
The sources cited here don’t establish that figure. Seriki’s website reports investments in more than 60 technology companies, but that count doesn’t show their current value.
