Lee Najjar — the Atlanta real estate investor who became one of the most talked-about off-camera figures in reality television history — passed away Saturday, April 18, 2026, at the age of 68. The cause of death has not been made public. His daughter Katelin confirmed the news through a series of Instagram Story posts, sharing pictures of the two of them together alongside an emotional tribute. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner also confirmed his death.
To Bravo fans who have followed The Real Housewives of Atlanta since its debut in 2008, Najjar needs no introduction. He was “Big Poppa” — the mystery man whose wealth funded Kim Zolciak’s glamorous early seasons, whose face never fully appeared on camera, and whose presence ignited some of the most memorable drama in RHOA history.
The Man Behind the Nickname
Najjar was a Puerto Rican-born real estate investor who settled in Atlanta during the 1990s and built his fortune through a portfolio of shopping centers, residential properties, and commercial developments across Georgia and Florida. By the height of the real estate boom in the early 2000s, he had become one of Atlanta’s most flamboyant figures — a businessman who operated largely in the shadows but whose lifestyle was anything but quiet.
His most recognizable asset was his Buckhead estate at 490 West Paces Ferry Road, a 25,000-square-foot mansion located across from the Georgia Governor’s Mansion. Originally built in 1910 and expanded over several decades, the home featured Mediterranean-inspired architecture with $2 million in gold gilding, 19 fireplaces, nine bedrooms, 12 full bathrooms, three wine cellars, and a private spa.
That mansion was broadcast to a national audience on MTV’s “Teen Cribs” and HGTV’s “Million Dollar Rooms.” It was also used as a filming location for movies including “Zombieland.” Najjar was known to host celebrity-attended parties and maintained a presence in Atlanta’s luxury social scene even as his television notoriety grew without his direct participation.
The RHOA Connection That Changed Everything
The Real Housewives of Atlanta premiered in October 2008, and from its opening episodes, Kim Zolciak arrived on screen with a lifestyle that clearly had a patron. She called him “Big Poppa” and went to lengths to protect his identity — borrowing the nickname from the Notorious B.I.G. song to refer to the man providing her Range Rover, her townhouse, and a ring.
Najjar became a notorious off-camera figure during the early seasons of RHOA as the mystery man bankrolling Zolciak’s luxurious lifestyle — all while he was still reportedly married to another woman.
During the Season 1 reunion, NeNe Leakes — never one to let a storyline go unaddressed — confronted Zolciak directly. “Close your legs to married men, Kim!” Leakes shouted at her. The moment became one of the franchise’s most quoted exchanges and a defining scene in Atlanta reality television history.
Zolciak maintained throughout the first two seasons that Najjar was in the process of separating from his wife Kimberly, though by Season 3 it became clear that no divorce was forthcoming. The relationship’s central contradiction — a woman being publicly supported by a man with no public face, who was still married — gave RHOA its early dramatic engine and cemented Leakes’ role as the show’s most effective truth-teller.
Zolciak and Najjar had a relationship that continued on and off for several years. In 2009, she told media that the relationship had ended: “He will always be the love of my life, but it’s time for me to move on.” Then in February 2010, she confirmed they were back together: “We’re doing great. It’s been so on and off in the last two years, but the entertainment industry is really difficult and takes a toll on relationships.”
She ultimately moved on, meeting Kroy Biermann at an event in May 2010 and marrying him the following year. By 2017, she told People she hadn’t heard from Najjar in years.
The Atlanta Footprint He Left Behind
Beyond the Bravo storyline, Najjar’s impact on Atlanta’s real estate and social landscape was real and complicated. At his peak, Najjar controlled a real estate portfolio valued in the hundreds of millions. The 2008 financial crash reportedly triggered significant losses — defaulting on more than $45 million in loans and losing multiple shopping centers, a private jet share, and his St. Marlo Country Club mansion. Integrity Bank’s failure in 2008, attributed in part to over-lending to clients like Najjar, cost the FDIC over $200 million and led to legal action against the bank’s directors.
His Buckhead mansion — the same estate featured on “Teen Cribs” and used in “Zombieland” — eventually went to foreclosure and was auctioned on the courthouse steps for $1.358 million, then changed hands several times before finally selling in 2023 for $8.5 million.
He faced legal challenges in 2012, when he was arrested for failing to appear in court over allegations of not maintaining a property he owned. He had been fined $75,000 for the upkeep failure before being taken into custody after missing the court date.
Throughout these years, Najjar remained largely out of the public eye, the same posture he had maintained during the RHOA years. He declined interviews, kept his social media private, and let the mythology of “Big Poppa” exist largely on its own terms.
Tributes and What He Leaves Behind
Katelin Najjar shared an update from a close family friend on her Instagram Stories alongside her own tribute to her father. The friend wrote: “If you know me, you know Katelin has been my other half for over 25 years. The Najjars have always been a second family to me, and I’m endlessly grateful for each of them. It’s so hard to imagine life without Lee, but who he was and what he meant to those who knew and loved him will never leave us.”
The tribute concluded: “Lee Lee, you will be deeply missed. I know you’re in heaven listening to Amr Diab and eating grape leaves. Please keep the Najjar family in your prayers.”
A family friend also shared: “Not only was Lee a smart businessman, he was genuinely funny. I’m going to miss his one-liners and his sense of humor so much. He was incredibly witty and passed that trait down to Katelin. I know we’ll continue talking about him and keeping his memory alive forever.”
Najjar is survived by his wife Kimberly and their two children — daughter Katelin and son Jeremy. Kim Zolciak had not publicly commented on his passing as of Wednesday, April 22.
For Atlanta’s RHOA community, Najjar represents something rare in reality television: a figure who never chose the spotlight but shaped it anyway. His off-camera presence was more powerful than most on-camera storylines. The legend of Big Poppa started in Buckhead, played out on Bravo, and now belongs permanently to the city’s pop culture history.
