Andrew Beal

Daniel Andrew Beal (born November 29, 1952 ) is an American banker, businessman, investor, and amateur mathematician.

He is a Dallas-based businessman who accumulated wealth in real estate and banking.

Born and raised in Lansing, Michigan, Beal is founder and chairman of Beal Bank and Beal Bank USA, as well as other affiliated companies.

According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Beal has an estimated worth of US$9.49 billion as of December 2021.

A number theorist, Beal is also known for the Beal conjecture, a mathematical generalization of Fermat's Last Theorem.

He has funded a $1 million standing prize for its proof or disproof.

His banks sponsor two annual science and technology fairs affiliated with the International Science & Engineering Fair.

In 1976, he attended an auction of federal properties in Washington, DC and bid on an apartment building in Waco, TX.

His winning bid was $217,500.

Three years later he sold the building for more than $1 million.

Also in 1976, he enrolled at Baylor University in Waco, TX, but left school to focus on business endeavors.

In 1981, Beal and a partner bought two housing project buildings in disrepair, the Brick Towers in Newark, New Jersey, for $25,000.

Two years later, they sold the repaired buildings for $3.2 million to a private investor.

In 1988, Beal opened a bank in Dallas, and in 2004, another in Las Vegas.

Since then, the banks have purchased financial assets and held them as the market improved.

The banks’ purchases have included:

In 1997, as part of a space privatization trend encouraged by the federal government, Beal started an aerospace company to build rockets with the goal of placing communications satellites in orbit.

Operating with more than 200 employees from a 163,000-square-foot space in Frisco, Texas, Beal Aerospace focused on a three-stage, 200-foot-tall rocket.

Powered by hydrogen peroxide and kerosene, the engine eliminated the need for a separate ignition system because, as the hydrogen peroxide oxidized, it ignited the kerosene.

Beal participated in some high-stakes poker games in the mid-2000s that were the subject of a book.

Beal grew up in Lansing, Michigan, where his mother worked in state government, and his father was a mechanical engineer.

His siblings include an older brother and a younger sister.

As a teenager, Beal began earning money by fixing and reselling used televisions with the help of his uncle.

While attending high school he also installed apartment security systems.

He also started a business moving houses and managed rental properties.

Beal excelled on his high school debate team at Lansing Sexton High School and went on to enroll at Michigan State University, where he studied mathematics.

At age 19, Beal became a real estate investor when he bought a house in Lansing for $6,500 and started leasing it for $119 per month.

Beal became known for buying properties, renovating them, and selling them.

Facing competition from NASA's Space Launch Initiative, Beal closed the company and ceased operations on October 23, 2000.

Based on the Uniform Bank Performance Report from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, Beal Bank’s return on assets (ROA) was 8.1 in 2008, several times in excess of its peer group (insured savings banks with assets greater than $1 billion).

From 2009–2012 Beal Bank generally exceeded its peer group.

Beal Bank USA's ROA is generally several times in excess of its peer group (insured commercial banks with assets greater than $3 billion).

In 2017, he sold his Dallas, TX estate, listed previously for $132 million, through Concierge Auctions for $36.2 million.

Beal Bank and Beal Bank USA report combined total capital in excess of $2.7 billion and combined total assets in excess of $7.2 billion as of June 2019.

They have a total of 37 branch locations and offer online banking also.

Both banks are members of and are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

They offer deposit products to the public including CDs, money market accounts, statement savings accounts, and IRA CD accounts that are insured by the FDIC.

Because they do not offer consumer loans or checking accounts, the banks are considered wholesale banks.

Both banks purchase pools of non-agency residential first liens and commercial real estate-secured loans in order to fund commercial loans and participations in loans and syndications, through affiliates.

Beal’s major businesses as of 2021 include: