When you think of living in the moment or living life to the max, you might think of one name: Dan Bilzerian. Called The King of Instagram by his fans, he’s one of the best known American social media celebrities, but also an actor, a venture capitalist and a professional poker player.
You can either criticize or envy him or his phenomenal lifestyle, but one thing’s for sure: you can’t ignore him. His lavish way of living in the moment has gotten him a ton of attention, which further translated into his impressive net worth of $200 million in 2021. Who said you can’t have fun and make loads of money at the same time?
Early Life
Dan Brandon Bilzerian was born on December 7, 1980, in Tampa, Florida, as the son of the corporate raider Paul Bilzerian and brother of poker player Adam Bilzerian. It seems like his entire family was in the business of making the most (money) out of every moment.
As this kind of life can never begin with a-quiet-and-dutiful-child-getting-good-grades-in-school type of story, Dan’s childhood and early life were to say at least, wild. When he was ten, his father went to prison for tax and stock related charges. Later on, Dan was expelled from two schools in the time span of one year, and if that wasn’t enough, one day he took his father’s assault rifle to school to brag about it. After that, he had to leave not only the school but the state of Utah, forever.
In 2000, Bilzerian attended the Navy SEALs training program, and contrary to what you might expect, his attitude led to him being kicked out of the program. Subsequently, he got into the world of professional poker players.
Poker Career
I guess you figured out by now that the main source of his wealth is poker.
It all began back in college when he first went broke several times, but afterwards he came back with more self control and managed to score some big wins. At one point, he made $10,000, took a plane to Las Vegas and turned that into $187,000. It might sound too good to be true, but that’s exactly what happened.
The success he had motivated him to keep playing. He tried to finish his university studies later on, but winning around $90,000 a week in poker games sounded a lot more appealing, so he dropped out from university and dedicated himself to gambling. And to hot babes.
At 27 years old, he went on to play high stake tournaments, the first one being the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, when he won only $36,000. You could get there even by playing bingo. But the disappointment of not winning the high prize of $8.5 million in that tournament made him commit even more to the game, and soon after he started winning big tournaments, becoming one of the world’s most recognized professional poker players.
A few years ago he won $10.8 million in one high stake game, and then took a private jet to Mexico to celebrate. Now count in the gorgeous models he’s usually surrounded with and the wild parties he’s having. Sounds like a good life, right? Ok, now add the three heart attacks he’s had before the age of 32. The conclusion? Too many voluptuous beauties around can cause heart failure.
Social Media King and Other Ventures
And as the norm is today in the social-media age, that kind of life comes with a huge social media presence. With Dan’s ostentatious lifestyle, it’s no wonder that his Instagram and Twitter profiles amassed over 32 million and 1.7 million followers respectively. Sponsored posts earn him tens of thousand of dollars and even his cat Smushball is close to 1 million followers.
Furthermore, he uses his image for ad campaigns, as is the case of the fantasy sport ad for Draft Kings which paid him $250,000 to enjoy a three day trip with a bunch of sexy models. As the saying goes, another day at the office.
Besides all that, Bilzerian made appearances in a few movies, such as The Equalizer, The Other Woman, Olympus is Falling, Lone Survivor or War Dogs.
Houses, Cars, Weapons and Jets
Where else could Dan Bilzerian live if not in the Hollywood Hills where all the big celebrities are? His leased multi-million mansion has a superb view over the city, the usual big pool, several poker tables, and a large garage for his big boy toys.
The famous poker player also has an apartment in the Panorama Towers of Los Angeles, reserved only for the rich elite and another gorgeous estate in La Jolla, San Diego. Both of them are extremely luxurious as well. He also has a stunning bachelor pad in Las Vegas (photo above), but he listed it for sale a few months ago for $5.1 million.
You don’t need to see too many of his posts on social media to figure out that Bilzerian is one big kid. And a very rich one. He’s got a huge collection of toys, from firearms, to cars and private jets.
Dan’s favorite car is probably his amazing chroma plated 1965 Shelby Cobra. The other ones are a Lamborghini Aventador, a custom made Brabus G63 AMG 6×6 truck with a price tag of around $760,000, an offroad Polaris RZR 900 and also a little gift from his father… a Bentley. He also owns a Gulfstream IV Private Jet, that’s perfect for high altitude partying with hot ladies.
What he loves most after girls, is his collection of guns. If you can think of one, he probably owns it.
Dan Bilzerian Net Worth Over Time
Dan Bilzerian’s net worth rose sharply across the years especially due to the lucky hands he had in poker. In 2009, he won $39,000 in his first tournament, and in 2013 he made $10.8 million, as we’ve previously mentioned.
Part of his net worth was inherited from his father but he never gave us a clue about the sum. Besides that and poker, Dan has also made a lot of money from endorsements and sponsored social media posts and a little bit from his movie appearances as well.
Today, after winning many other poker tournaments, his net worth rises at the nice sum of $200 million, and given the fact that he doesn’t show any sign of slowing down, his wealth will be growing more.
Last update: January 2021.
