Dan Peña

Daniel Steven Peña Sr. (born August 10, 1945) is an American businessman.^[2]

Dan Peña
Dan Peña at Guthrie Castle
Born	Daniel Steven Peña[1] (1945-08-10) August 10, 1945 (age 80) Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Education	San Fernando Valley State College (now CSUN) (BS)
Occupation	Businessman
Website	danpena.co.uk

Early life

Peña is Mexican American and was raised in East Los Angeles, California.^{[3][unreliable source?][2]} His family moved to Encino when he was 10 years old.^[4] In 1971, he graduated from San Fernando Valley State College School of Business Administration and Economics^[5] with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.^[2]

Peña's mother was from Mexico and is from both Austrian and Spanish descent. His father, who was from New Mexico, was one of the first Mexican American detectives in the Los Angeles Police Department and later worked in a secret CIA unit where he oversaw an investigation into the death of Robert F. Kennedy.^[4]

Career

Peña began his career as a financial analyst on Wall Street.^[6] He went on to become president of Great Western Resources, Inc., a Houston-based oil company listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1984.^[4] In a move backed by shareholders, Peña was ousted as president of the company in 1992 and subsequently awarded $3.3 million by an American jury, after suing the company over his dismissal.^[7][8]

In 1984, Peña bought Guthrie Castle in Angus, Scotland, where he lives and from which he has operated several businesses.^[9][10]

In 2017, the castle and estate manager employed by Peña at Guthrie Castle was found to have committed fraud by double or triple booking wedding facilities and paying the higher charges into their own account.^[11] Peña said he forgave the employee and covered the £130,000 stolen from clients.^[12]

Peña refers to himself as the "trillion-dollar man."^[13] He works as a motivational speaker and is known for his brash persona.^[4]

Politics

Peña ran as an independent candidate in the 2024 UK general election in the Angus and Perthshire Glens constituency, running under the slogan, "Make Angus Great Again".^[13] He polled just 733 votes (1.5 percent) of the votes cast,^[14] coming sixth out of six candidates. The seat was won by the Scottish National Party candidate.