DAN PENA – nicknamed “the trillion dollar man” – is one of the loudest and most outspoken businessmen around.
Vocal on social media and on YouTube, Pena is known for his forthright motivational speeches and blunt advice on investments.
But what is the story behind Dan Pena and what does he think about Bitcoin?
Who is Dan Pena?
Dan Pena was born in 1945 in Jacksonville, Florida in the US and was raised in Los Angeles California.
The Mexican American graduated from San Fernando Valley State College in 1971 with a degree in business administration. He went to university later than many of his peers after volunteering for the Vietnam War in 1966.
Upon graduation he took up a career in finance on Wall Street, stating years later that he made his decision because: “I wanted to go where the money was.”
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Pena spent a decade working for multiple finance firms as an analyst before founding his own company in 1982.
The entrepreneur set up a Houston-based oil company called Great Western Resources, with only $820, a phone, and a fax machine.
Over the cause of eight years he grew his initial investment into a $450million business that owned several energy companies.
Pena served as CEO at the firm until 1990 when he was ousted by the company’s board in a move backed by the shareholders. He later won $3.3million in compensation after suing the company over his dismissal.
Following his success on Wall Street and as an entrepreneur, in 1993 Pena started a new career as a high-performance business coach. In 1999 he also published his book “Your First 100 Million”.
He is now known for his motivational YouTube videos on how to be successful.
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What does Dan Pena think about Bitcoin?
Dan Pena has made no secret about his dislike for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
He was the subject of much mockery in 2019 when he claimed Vladimir Putin had invented Bitcoin.
Pena said that the Russian President had made the cryptocurrency to sabotage the financial markets.
“It’s a Russian conspiracy to f*ck up the American economy and the world,” he said.
“It’s a long range plan he [Putin] started seven or eight years ago.
“He’s going to see the demise of the Western financial world while he’s still the head of Russia.
“He’s going to be there long enough and he’s already hacked into the brains of all the morons.”
The remarks came just 12 months after Pena criticised those who invested in Bitcoin and called them “retarded imbeciles”.
He said: “A smart rich guy I talked to last night, he said ‘it’s like these guys found a $1,000 bill in the street, or they found a diamond in the street and now they’re professional investors all of a sudden because they found a f*cking $1,000 bill in the street.
“90.999 per cent of the people that own Bitcoin are f*cking morons. Retarded imbeciles. That’s just it.”
What is Dan Pena’s net worth?
Despite being known as “the trillion dollar man”, Dan Pena’s net worth is considerably lower than that.
The American businessman is estimated to have a net worth of $500million.