21 Nov
Call him the King of Instagram or Internet’s Most Desired Playboy. Call him a baller, a high roller or potential shot caller (running for US presidency is no joke). Call him a boss, a badass or maybe everyone’s wildest dream. Or just jump off that bandwagon and start calling him a joke, an attention seeker or a disease of modern-day society.
Whatever you call him, his name won’t change; he’ll still be Dan Bilzerian, probably one of the most admired and at the same time hated men on the face of this planet. The reasons for all the love and hate are widely known and will not be covered in this article. But if you’ve lived under a rock for the past four-five years, feel free to search him on Instagram, Twitter or Google. In a matter of minutes, you’ll realize that all of those emotions have to do with one single constant in his life: MONEY! So how much does he have? On the topic of Dan Bilzerian’s net worth – how did he build his fortune? Did he do it by the sweat of his brow? Not exactly. Here’s what has transpired so far:
Dan Bilzerian Net Worth: Somewhere between $100 million and $150 million
Last year, in July, the King of Instagram got the chance to talk with radio and TV personality Howard Stern about his baller life. He said during the interview that his net worth is around $100 million. He currently lives in an estate in Hollywood Hills, has an office full of guns, a very messy bedroom, some badass cars, an awesome game room, a #goat (NO, not the acronym but an actual goat as a pet) and many would argue too many women (his Instagram account can confirm).
SPOILER ALERT: You may experience uncontrollable outbursts when you look at these pics:
We are not yet sure whether he owns the private jets, helicopters, yachts and his holiday home in La Jolla, a beach town near Mexico. Frankly, it’s anyone’s guess.
Most of the pics are from 2014 and early 2015 so what about this year? Has his ‘small’ $100 million fortune increased? Well, according to CelebrityNetWorth.com – a site specialized in such matters – Dan Bilzerian net worth is currently ‘rated’ at $150 million. During the interview with Howard Stern, Bilzerian did say he won $50 million in 2013 from poker so it would make sense for his worth to be at $150 million if we assume he made the same profit in 2014 and 2015. But since we are talking about poker where fortunes are made and lost in the flip of a card, we can’t be that sure. So again, the number is somehow relative. Yet, his baller life on Instagram confirm the fact that Bilzerian is filthy rich.
All this money leads us to the next important question: how did he win $150 million? Did he build his fortune through poker? Not quite.
Income Source #1: Daddy’s Deep Pockets
Dan Bilzerian didn’t build a bankroll playing micro and small stakes online. He actually started life with a big bankroll. Dan is the son of the infamous corporate raider Paul Bilzerian who made quite a name for himself in the 80s. Serving in the Vietnam War and graduating Stanford and Harvard Business School, Paul was a true high roller in the corporate takeover business. He attempted several hostile takeovers and was accused of market manipulation. Most of them did not succeed but he cashed in nevertheless thanks to some higher bids and subsequent selloffs.
In 1989, his wealth was estimated at $50 million. One year later, Bilzerian Sr. said his fortune was worth over $81 million.
In other words, before Dan Bilzerian, there was Paul Bilzerian living with his two sons and his wife in Taj Mahal – a giant 28,000-square feet Tampa mansion with indoor basketball court, batting cage and water slide. Like his son, Paul hasn’t lived a quiet life. He didn’t party as hard as Dan, he was much more concerned with his freedom and his fortune. In 1991, Paul was convicted of tax law violations and in 1993 the court ruled in favor of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordering Bilzerian Sr. to pay $62 million. SEC recovered only $3.7 million according to a 2014 Wall Street Journal article mainly because Paul filled several bankruptcies and set up trust funds for his sons. Yes, that includes the King of Instagram.
In several interviews, Dan Bilzerian admitted the existence of those trust funds but he didn’t reveal exactly how much he ‘inherited.’
Income Source #2: Lucrative Private Poker Cash Games and… Luck
Besides his father’s tumultuous past, every description you will ever find of ‘Blitz’ will mention those three magical words: professional poker player. Yet, if we research closely, we won’t find many clues that could back up that story: Bilzerian only has a lone cash following a deep run in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event (180th place for $36,626). During that run, he caught the attention of the poker community.
But the story doesn’t start in Las Vegas, according to ‘Blitz.’ In a GQ interview, he said he started gambling during his college years. He went broke several times and had to sell his beloved guns. Those hard sells however were life-changing: he bought a one-way ticket to Las Vegas and returned with a hefty $187,000 profit. After that, it all went upwards: he even bragged with $90,000 in poker winnings per week during his stay in college.
After the 2009 WSOP episode and a worthy trophy handed by Bluff Magazine in 2010 (Funniest Poker Twitterer), the Bilzerian legend was born. Todd Witteles talked about Bilzerian as the guy who showed up at a private game with a suitcase filled with $100,000. He also played nosebleeds in Los Angeles with celebrities like actors Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg, film director Nick Cassavetes and Survivor participant Jean-Robert Bellande.
The myths surrounding these high-stakes (up to $5,000/$10,000) private games are wild: from losing $3 million in one night and a $2.3 million (literally) coin flip to winning a heads-up match worth over $10 million.
Do not take our word for it, we have some pics to prove it:
Dan Bilzerian also cashed in big – $1 million – when Jay Farber finished second at the 2013 WSOP Main Event. He staked Farber with 20% of the $10,000 buy-in and was heavily rewarded with his result.
And since he loves this poker business so much, he was one of the investors behind Victory Poker, an online poker room closed in 2011. Overly aggressive? Most likely.
Other Sources: Acting and Ads
But poker definitely isn’t Bilzerian’s one true love. In fact, we’re pretty sure love has nothing to do with ‘it’ since we’re talking about ‘Blitz’. He enjoys the spotlight and the spotlight enjoys him. That’s why he’s also labeled as an actor: he appeared in films like ‘Olympus Has Fallen,’ ‘Lone Survivor,’ ‘The Other Woman,’ ‘The Equalizer’ and ‘Cat Run 2’. Of course, he had minor roles and we aren’t sure who paid who in the process (probably Dan). Nevertheless, he did manage to win. In ‘Lone Survivor’ for example he was promised at least 8 minutes of screen time and 80 words of dialogue. The producers never kept their promises so Bilzerian sued them and asked his money back (he invested to get himself a role in the movie). Eventually, he dropped the case; he said he was already $1.5 million richer thanks to the ‘Lone Survivor’.
And with the movies comes the publicity: the Playboy was also involved in several marketing campaigns. In one of them, he appeared for one minute besides Verne Troyer in the famous BGO ‘Beat the Boss’ ad. The whole BGO campaign cost £15 million.
In one of the latest ads, DraftKings used his image in order to encourage Americans to play daily fantasy sports. What did Bilzerian get? How about $250,000 free money to spend on a three-day Cabo (Southern California) trip with a ‘bunch’ of models. To join him and the models, all you had to do was beat his football roster.
What About Instagram?
Is that it? No, what about Instagram? Yes, Bilzerian’s very own home turf. We all know by now that anyone can make money from posting sponsored content on social media. Of course, that person has to have a lot of followers. ‘Blitz’ not only does he fall into this category, he is truly the crowned King. He has 13.6 million followers on Instagram, over 9.3 million likes on Facebook and 1.28 million followers on Twitter.
What does this mean in terms of money? Earlier in 2015, an article on HarpersBazaar.com highlighted an Instagram fashion star by the name of Danielle Bernstein. Bernstein had at that time under 1 million followers (she now has 1.3 million) and her Instagram worth ranged between $5,000 and $15,000. Later in the summer, ESPN calculated LeBron James Twitter account’s worth. James has 24.9 million followers and a single tweet from him is worth around $140,000 or $1,000 per character.
Now think of Dan Bilzerian. He could easily earn $20,000 if not much more – in the $100,000-range – from posting sponsored content on his Instagram account. Not that much if we look at his net worth, just pocket money for his weekdays parties.
Conclusion: Dan Bilzerian Is Filthy Rich
All in all, these income sources add up making Bilzerian a wanted man throughout the Internet. Love him or hate him, for him is all the same: he will continue to show off to the world and get as much attention as a sports superstar or world diva. And since we’re living in a world where social media is everything, all this attention most likely means big bucks for ‘Blitz.’
So real poker earnings? Who cares? Dan Bilzerian is filthy rich and with all that publicity around him, he’ll remain that way for the foreseeable future.
