Dan Peña - The 50 Billion Dollar Man

From Bad Boy to Businessman

Dan Peña is an entrepreneur, speaker, motivator, and consultant. Before becoming a successful businessman, he took part in his fair share of rough behaviour. Born in 1945 in Jacksonville, Florida, his family spent much of his childhood in East Los Angeles, California. It was there he learned to stand up for himself, which lead to run-ins with the police. His father, Manual Peña, took the tough-love approach to parenting, which may explain Dan’s harsh, no-nonsense demeanour today.

After a distinguished career in the Army as an officer, Peña returned to college and finished his four-year-degree in 1971. He began working in the real estate industry and soon become the CEO and president of Kennedy Industrial Inc. He was also the chairman of JPK Industries (specializing in the petroleum business), where he helped generate $50 million in revenue in three years. In 1997, he founded The Guthrie Group (TGG), an investment consortium. Specializing in facilitating transactions, TGG acted as principal, advisor and agent to global and regional companies and institutions. He also founded Great Western Resources Inc. (GWRI), a natural resource company. Starting with only $820, Dan Peña grew GWRI to $450 million in a period of eight years.

Quantum Leap Advantage

Dan Peña founded Quantum Leap Advantage (QLA), which provides high-dollar business success seminars. Since helping mentees produce trillions of dollars in various industries worldwide, he’s often referred to as “The Trillion Dollar Man.” The seminars take place in Peña’s castle home — the Guthrie Castle in Angus, Scotland. At almost 500 years old, the castle is 156 acres and includes a 9-hole golf course. Attending the week-long QLA event costs an astounding £10,000. It includes free-reign of the castle and hours of seminars by the self-described, “super success high-performance business coach.” He offers podcasts on iTunes and Podbean and wrote the book, Your First Hundred Million.

Brutally Honest

“If you’re not doing something you love, and you don’t have passion, that’s why you’re tired. That’s why you need breaks on the weekend.”

Does it sting a little? Yes. Is he wrong? No.

Known for his off-the-cuff, profanity-laden comments and brutally honest advice, Dan Peña thrives on telling his mentees what they need to hear — not what they want to hear. His seminars aren’t for everyone, since thick skin is required for lessons from the successful businessman. Dropping f-bombs like a bar of soap, Dan’s method of encouraging want-to-be-millionaires is both oddly inspiring and unintentionally humorous.

By the end of the video, you’ll either love or hate Dan. I’ve seen him in two dimensions — the QLA speaker and the casual, coffee-drinking-conversationalist —and the way he rouses and motivates people is unlike anything I’ve seen.

If you’re ready to look at your successes and failures through Dan Peña’s refreshingly transparent lens, you’ll enjoy this episode as much as I did.

Join us as we discuss:

• Peña’s reason for being a mentor
•  Meditation and “the third eye”
• Transitioning into the digital age
• His legacy as the “50 Billion Dollar Man”
• A look into his personal life and marriage
• The most common issue he sees in his mentees
• The entertaining side of Dan Peña
• What it’s like to attend seminars at the Guthrie Castle
• Is it really all about the money for Dan Peña?