The Real Reason Dan Bilzerian Is So Rich

Anyone known to the world as "The King of Instagram" probably isn't going to be a paragon of morality, and one could argue that's the case with Dan Bilzerian, known for his dazzling displays of fame and fortune, with hits like "throwing 18 year-old pornstar off balcony" and the song titled "Dan Bilzerian" by T-Pain. While the former is nothing to be proud of, the latter bespeaks a man who has managed to register himself upon the pop culture seismograph. But just how did Bilzerian acquire his fame and fortune?

According to GQ, details are a bit murky. In 2014, he told Howard Stern in an interview he was worth around $100 million, with half of it coming from poker winnings, including a $1 million payout simply for paying 20 percent of the 2013 World Series of Poker runner-up's entrance fee.

A presumably large portion of his wealth, however, came from his father, according to Vice, who set up trust funds for his son before heading off to the slammer for fraud. Either way, his displays of wealth have essentially become self-sustaining, helped along by the occasional investment in stuff like cryptocurrency, according to the New York Post. As of 2019, Wealthy Gorilla places his fortune at $150 million.

Around 2013, he also began to cultivate a huge social media following by taking wild, often staged photographs of him carousing with nude models, or engaging in otherwise lavish and extreme behavior. People either loved it or hated it, and both added to his notoriety, helping Bilzerian amass a total of almost 30 million Instagram followers. 

According to MarketWatch, accounts with comparable numbers of followers can net tens of thousands of dollars per post, meaning Bilzerian can afford to keep living large simply by living large.

Though there are undoubtedly more ideal role models for the youth of today, no one can deny this "modern day Hugh Hefner" has struck a chord with those whose vocal cords are still in metamorphosis. So if you were expecting to hear that Bilzerian earned his money in the trenches, you might be disappointed. However, if you're looking for a reason to justify pursuing your most materialistic and lust-driven fantasies, he's a great person to look up to!