Andrew Beal
#243

Andrew Beal

United States 73 years old Self-Made

Overview

Source of Wealth
Banks, real estate
Residence
Dallas, Texas
Education
Baylor University (Drop Out)
Marital Status
Divorced
Children
6

Biography

Andrew Beal is the founder and owner of Beal Financial Corporation, which owns Beal Bank and has assets of more than $22 billion.

The Texas banker is known for gobbling up distressed assets, including mortgages, bonds backed by commercial planes and IOUs to power plants.

He made a tidy sum during the Great Recession, scooping up beaten-down assets while the nation's biggest banks were being bailed out by taxpayers.

Born in Lansing, Mich., he scraped together cash early on fixing used televisions.

Beal dropped out of both Michigan State University and Baylor University and bought a $6,500 house at age 19 that he leased to get a start in real estate.

About

Beal is a high-stakes poker player who has taken on the world's top players in Las Vegas.

A math enthusiast, Beal developed the Beal Conjecture in 1993, and offered $1 million to anyone who could solve it. No one has.

Beal says he has subscribed to Forbes for over three decades.