Who is Herman Echevarria?
Before his tragic death in September 2016, Herman was known best for appearing in “Real Housewives of Miami”,(RHOM) and being the founder of Venue Magazine. The estranged husband of Alexia Echevarria was born in Camaguey, Cuba, on 12th May 1955, and died of natural causes in Miami, Florida, in September 2016.
Career
Before appearing on TV, Herman was the CEO of BVK/Meka, an international marketing and communications firm with over 200 employees. In 2000, he became the chairman of that year’s Miami-Dade Marketing Initiative.
Sometime in the early 2000s, Herman was the Hialeah City Council President, and the chairman of Hialeah’s Chamber of Commerce and Industries. In 2001, his hard work landed him a spot in Miami Business Review’s coveted list of top 100 influential leaders in the South Florida area. In 2006, Herman and Alexia co-founded Venue Magazine, which focused on topics such as lifestyle, entertainment, and fashion.
Personal Life
Herman and Alexia met sometime in the early 2000s and married in 2004. It was the second marriage for both parties, with the businessman being twelve years older than the reality TV star.
In 2015, the seemingly perfect couple grew apart and separated, but continued as business partners. Alexia eventually rejoined the dating scene, although still married to Herman when he passed away. The former couple had a combined total of four children from their prior relationships. Alexia shocked the internet upon revealing in the fourth season of RHOM in 2021, that her late husband was gay. The bombshell was met with criticism – former castmate Lea Black, who was friends with Herman, slammed Alexia for discussing her deceased husband’s sexuality when he wasn’t able to defend himself. As far back as 2012, the show’s co-stars Karent Sierra and Joanna Krupa accused Herman of being gay, something which Alexia vehemently denied at the time.
In fact, the latter slammed her castmates in a blog post, dubbing them the “devilish duo”, adding: “Joanna is crazy, volatile, and aggressive. Karent is a clown, a liar, and passive-aggressive”.
Alexia
There’s a lack of available details regarding Herman’s discreet first wife and the mother of his two eldest sons, there’s plenty of information about Alexia online. Born Alexia Astrid Figueredo on 3rd May 1967, the reality TV star of Cuban descent moved to the United States as an adolescent. In 1996, her first husband, Pedro Rosello, was sent to prison for cocaine smuggling, which led to the couple’s divorce just four years after their big day. Alexia was pregnant at the time, and gave birth to her second son, Frankie in 1997, when her firstborn, Peter, was five years old.
It’s not known what Alexia did to support herself and two young children, although some suspect that she lived off the drug money Pedro managed to stash away before his prison stint. In 2011, the blonde made her TV debut on Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Miami” as a main cast member, returning in season two as a friend of the housewives. Following her marriage to Herman, Alexia became the stepmother of his two children, Herman Jr. and Nelson. The power couple and their brood successfully lived together as a blended family for over a decade, often posting each other on social media, and Alexia became her husband’s business partner with Venue Magazine.
Real Housewives of Miami
Over the years, Alexia has had a rollercoaster relationship with some of her RHOM castmates such as Lea.
In fact, when Lea didn’t return for season four of the hit show, Alexia said she agreed with the decision, because none of the other housewives had a “bond” with the former. The current season of RHOM sees Alexia and her current fiancé, Todd Nepola, navigate many difficult situations together. In fact, Todd faced criticism and backlash after arguing in front of cameras with his stepson Peter, with whom he has a strained relationship. In the episode, Peter lashed out against his mother’s partner for how he handled an incident with his younger brother Frankie, who requires special care. Todd claimed that Peter should be “held accountable” for the accidental injury Frankie sustained while in his care.
Todd took to Instagram to explain his version of events, saying: “Everyone’s opinion is valid here. It was an awful situation. I just want everyone to know Frankie was not there while this argument took place”.
Death
Herman was found dead on 26th September 2016 at his apartment in Miami’s Epic Hotel. As soon as the news began circulating on the internet, Alexia released a statement via Instagram in which she asked fans to respect her family’s privacy during their time of grieving. The following day, she spoke to E! Magazine, saying: “I can’t imagine what my life will be like walking into my office every day and not seeing Herman or having our family dinners with the kids and family”.
Today is a very important day for Puerto plata
la Puntilla a spectacular ocean view Theater pic.twitter.com/aFQUaHPYIj— Herman Echevarria (@HermanEchevarri) July 15, 2016
In November of the same year, news outlet Radar Online obtained the incident report with details of Herman’s death. Allegedly, two of the businessman’s friends called Herman’s apartment building and asked management to perform a wellness check, and the manager found him unresponsive after opening the apartment with a master key. Three people entered the apartment and discovered Herman lying in bed; the report states that one of them tried to wake him up by moving his body. Apparently, the last time Herman spoke to his friends was two and four days before his death, when they visited him to drop off prescription meds.
When speaking to police, Alexia confirmed that Herman had many medical issues, and hadn’t been feeling well in the days leading up to his death. Although some salacious gossip sites suspected foul play was involved, the Miami coroner soon confirmed that Herman had passed away of natural causes.
Net Worth
Although figures vary, reliable sources confirm that Herman was worth an estimated $30 million at the time of his death. He amassed this sizeable fortune thanks to his impeccable business acumen, and savvy moneymaking decisions.
