Rick Ross says he moved his business focus from Wingstop franchises to stocks after a review of state filings tied to his family’s restaurant companies found that only one of 21 listed locations remained open by the end of 2025.
The rapper addressed questions about the shrinking Wingstop footprint in a video posted to social media this week. “My game went from more franchising to stocks,” he said, adding that the stock market offered opportunities he believed could outpace running restaurants.
Ross did not detail which stocks he owns, how much he has invested or when he made the shift. His remarks followed an online review of franchise records by investor Eric Jackson, whose findings drew attention to the changing number of restaurants connected to Boss Wings, a company linked to Ross’s family.
What the filings appear to show
Jackson said he traced 32 Wingstop store numbers associated with Boss Wings through state franchise filings. His review found 21 open restaurants at the end of 2016, compared with one at the end of 2025, in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He also said 28 of the store numbers were later listed under other franchisees.
The figures describe the Boss Wings businesses covered by Jackson’s review; they do not establish whether Ross personally owned each restaurant or the terms on which locations moved to other operators.
According to [a report summarising Jackson’s findings, the filings do not explain why the restaurants changed hands or disclose sale prices. Ross did not directly address the store count in the comments reported by Complex.
The remaining Clarksdale location is in the Mississippi town where Ross’s mother is from. Ross’s public association with Wingstop goes back more than a decade: in 2011 the company announced that he had signed a development agreement to open restaurants in Memphis. He later described lemon-pepper wings as the reason he wanted to invest in the franchise.
Ross points to stocks as his next move
In the video, Ross said he still likes the chain and told fans to keep ordering its wings. He described franchising as a worthwhile experience, but said stock-market investing represented a different scale of opportunity for him. He claimed that even owning 200 franchises would not match the level of his stock investments, without providing figures to substantiate the comparison.
The explanation came as the filing review was being circulated online and mocked by rapper 50 Cent, a longtime rival of Ross. 50 Cent posted that Ross had “only one location”, amplifying attention on the tally. The exchange has fuelled speculation about Ross’s finances, but the available filings and his video do not provide a full account of his business portfolio or financial position.
Wingstop confirmed in 2022 that Boss Wings transferred its Memphis restaurants to a new operator, as reported by [Mississippi Today](). That earlier change shows that at least some locations left the family-linked operation before Jackson’s end-of-2025 count.
Ross’s latest comments give his stated reason for focusing on stocks, while the filings provide a count of restaurant locations connected to Boss Wings over time. They do not reveal the value of any sales, how much Ross has put into stocks or what other Wingstop interests he may have.
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