Dan Peña - Movie Bonus: Guthrie Castle Tour

Movie Bonus: The $50 Billion Man

The Guthrie Castle

Located in Angus, Scotland —just 10 km east of Forfar and 29 km north-west of Dundee — the Guthrie Castle sits on 156 acres of historic land. Dan Peña purchased the miraculous home in 1984, where he and his wife Sally raised their three children.

The perfectly-manicured grounds boast a walled garden (dating back to 1614), a 160-year-old hedge in shaped like a Celtic cross, and a 9-hole golf course that Peña added in 1994. The castle’s interior was restored to its 19th-century condition and opened to the public in 2003. For fourteen years, the castle hosted weddings, corporate events and private bookings, until Peña decided to make it a private estate in 2017.

QLA Seminars

Dan Peña founded Quantum Leap Advantage (QLA), which provides business success seminars at his castle home. At a staggering £10,000 for a week-long stay, attendees receive a crash course on how to achieve financial success.

Using his no-nonsense approach, a little humour, and a lot of colourful language, Peña acts as a mentor to those hoping to emulate his extraordinary accomplishments. His methodology is considered a bit unorthodox since his delivery is comprised mostly of curse words and ruthless criticism. As he tells me in our interview, only a small fraction of people are able to handle the harsh nature of his QLA seminars.

In response to the rest, “Sensitivity equals poverty,” he says.

Not Your Average Family Home

As you’ll see on my exclusive tour, Dan Peña’s Guthrie Castle isn’t your typical home for a family of four. Upon arrival, he is proud to show off a variety of big-game hunting trophies, but there’s one mounted head that represents something a bit more sentimental — the head of his son’s former pet bull. (That’s right — not a dog or a cat — a bull.)

He shows us the room where his children learned to play chess and discusses the massive (and unsurprising) upkeep involved with owning a castle. Heating his entire home takes a total of four days, and certainly doesn’t come cheap. He explains that heating the main castle alone is around $240 (£186) a day and about $1,000 (£775) total.

The heating system isn’t the only downside of owning a 500-year-old home. “Every day something breaks,” he says. He also reveals the constant attention given to his golf course, including cutting the greens three times a day.

So, why does he continue to live there? The video holds the answer. He shares his reason for staying in Scotland, as well as his thoughts about the castle attendees.

Dan Peña shares a lot of insight with me on this tour.

Join us as we discuss: 

• A history of the castle and renovations Peña has made over the years
• Guthrie Castle maintenance, including his 9-hole golf course
• How nights are spent in the castle during QLA seminars 
• An update on some of his past mentees
• How the QLA attendees change every year
• My induction into the Hall of Fame
• The “magic” secret door used by his kids
• His experiences with castle ghosts 
• Peña’s thoughts on London Real