Andrew Beal

Andrew Beal Profile Summary

Andrew Beal's Net Worth in 2024: $14.8 Billion

Andy Beal is a self-made multi-billionaire that has done a lot. He is the founder and owner of Beal Financial Corporation, a banking organization with over $40 billion in assets. His success is undeniable, with Forbes ranking him the 170th richest person on the planet in 2023. In addition to banking and investments, Beal’s passion for poker is known throughout the world of gambling. His net worth is reported to be around $14.8 billion.

If people say I'm doing something crazy, that's usually a good sign.

What Does Andy Beal Do?

Andy Beal is a remarkable indivisual. He grew up in Lansing, Michigan with a knack for mathematics and a shrewd sales mind. At the ripe age of 19, Andy ventured into the realm of real estate. He bought a house in Lansing for $6,500, before doing it up and leasing it out for $119 per month. As his reputation grew, so did his earnings. However, it was only the beginning of his extraordinary career.

In 1988, Andy Beal inaugurated Beal Bank in Dallas. In 2004, he opened Beal Bank USA in Las Vegas. The banks acquired financial assets and held them as the market improved. In June 2019, Beal Bank and Beal Bank USA reported a combined total capital in excess of $2.7 billion and a combined total assets in excess of $7.2 billion.

Today, Andy’s financial empire includes the Beal Bank in Dallas and the Beal Bank USA in Las Vegas. He also has several smaller firms in Dallas, including CSG Investments. Inc., Loan Acquisition Corporation and CLG Hedge Fund, LLC. 

How did Andy Beal become a multi-billionaire?

Throughout his career, Beal has always pursued the ‘next big thing’. He started working at an early age, buying properties, renovating them, and selling them at a profit. One of his most successful projects as a real estate agent included buying the Brick Tower in Newark, New Jersey for $25,000. Only two years later, he sold the property for $3.2 million to a private investor, a testament his business acumen. 

While these numbers may sound like a lot to the average person, the pinnacle of Andy’s wealth came when he made the leap from real estate to banking. His banking strategy is known to snap up distressed assets, such as mortgages, bonds and IOUs. During the Great Recession, Beal scooped up assets while the nation’s biggest banks were being bailed out by taxpayers. 

What’s Andy Beal’s Game of Choice

Despite dominating the banking and real estate industries, Beal has always had a soft spot for poker. He was never a professional player but has taken on some of the very best pros, including a legendary showdown with Phil Ivey. In the poker world, he’s known as ‘Poker’s Biggest Whale’. 

Andy has been playing poker since his college years, where he found success on the campus tables. However, entering the professional poker scene posed new challenges. His poker adventures began in 2001 at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. He crossed paths with Todd Brunson, a poker maestro and son of the esteemed Doyle Brunson. 

Due to his immense wealth, Andy decided to test his poker skills against the best poker players in the world. He issued a challenge, where legends like Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Ted Forrest and many more could play against him and his immaculate wealth. The challengers formed a group known as ‘The Corporation’. 

Andy’s Poker Battles Against the Corporation

The Corporation engaged in high-stakes battles with Andy, where limits would range from $10,000/$20,000 to a daring $100,000-$200,000. In 2004, at the Las Vegas Bellagio, Andy won $11.7 million, winning one of the largest single hands in poker history. 

A year later, the poker series was chronicled in a book by Michael Craig entitled The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time. Despite the massive win, continuous gaming against the Corporation saw Andy in a negative of $3.3 million to the Corporation. He vowed to stop playing poker. 

In February 2006, after vowing to never play professional poker again, Andy returned to Las Vegas to take down the Corporation. The beginning of the month looked optimistic for Andy, after he had won $13.6 million from the Corporation. However, between the 21st and 23rd of the month, he had lost an amount in excess of $16 million to the Corporation’s newest member, Phil Ivey. 

Beal continued playing the occasional poker challenges here and there but it is safe to say the loss to Ivey would have scarred him. Andy still enjoys playing recreational poker, but his high-stakes glory days are now a thing of the past. 

What is the most he has ever won?

On the 13th of May 2004, Andy won one of the largest single hands in poker history, a sum of $11.7 million. In February 2006, he won $13.6 million over the course of three days. 

How does Andy like to spend his money?

Beyond investments and playing poker, Andy is a generous philanthropist. He has supported various charities and causes. He also served as a donor and economic advisor to the 2016 Donald Trump campaign, donating over $3 million. 

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science opened in December 2012. It owes a part of its existence to Andy’s generosity. He contributed over $1 million to the museum and his companies donated more than 200 computers to the Dallas Independent School District for student use.

Key Gambling Stats

• Highest Win: Andy won $11.7 million, one of the largest single hands in poker history. 
• Biggest Loss: Andy lost a reported $16.6 million over the course of three days to The Corporation. The player that won most of the total was the crew’s newest member, Phil Ivey. 
• Andy’s battles against the Corporation often included rounds where the low/high blinds were as big as $100,000/$200,000. 

Gambling Lessons from Andy Beal

Andy’s remarkable poker career is a fascinating story, particularly as he was never a professional player. Known as a ‘Whale’, his career is often a spectacle of debate, whether he was actually a good player or just had an incredible bankroll.

One of the most telling feats in his gambling days was quitting after he had lost over $3.3 million to The Corporation. Instead of trying to reclaim his losses, he stopped playing competitively for two years. The decision to stop playing is a testament to his strong will against the temptations of trying to recoup losses. 

Playing for Fun

Billionaire Andy Beal has been at the center of some of the best gambling stories ever told. However, he has never been a professional gambler. Instead, the billionaire plays poker for enjoyment, rather than a need to sustain his lifestyle, with most of his wealth coming from banking and real estate. According to Forbes’ richest billionaires list, Andy’s net worth was valued at $10.3 billion in 2023.