Rich List: Wall Street's Greatest Gambler

As results were tallied up on the night of the the 2020 presidential elections, one high roller was floating a whopping $2.5 billion worth of bets that Donald Trump would lose, according to our sources. He was betting against two counterparties.

Even with Trump refusing to concede and threatening to drag the elections through the courts, he kept his cool. A self-made billionaire with a reputation for high-stakes gambling – in poker, but also more exotic bets like this one – he'd already earned enough money to make every citizen of his hometown in Pennsylvania unbelievably rich. Weeks later, when the election results were finalized beyond a shadow of a doubt, he pulled in a cool $400 million in profits.

Interestingly enough, this bettor was not Andy Beal, the famous Texan banker and high-roller who bet heavily on Donald Trump's first election and won.

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You're reading an edition of WHALE HUNTING, a newsletter from Project Brazen co-founders Bradley Hope and Tom Wright (authors of BILLION DOLLAR WHALE). Our Brazen Rich List is an ongoing investigation into who are the true richest people on earth. You can read about the first two candidates here and here. Our initiative isn't just about ogling wealth – it's about figuring out where power is concentrated out of view. These billionaires might spend their free time gambling, but they also support political causes and use their funds in many ways invisible to the world at large. Here's a description for why we're doing this from our inaugural newsletter:

Why? The reason goes to a core belief here at Project Brazen. Money matters. It's the closest thing to liquid power. Following its flows is the best tool journalists have to understand what's really going on out there. No surprise that there's a global industry trying to route money through complex arrays of shell companies and trusts. Secrecy Inc. is dedicated to preserving that power and shielding the rest of us from understanding who has it and how they're wielding it.

Now, on to our third candidate ...