Dan Peña

Daniel Steven Peña Sr. (born August 10, 1945) is an American–British businessman.

Early life Peña is Mexican American and was raised in East Los Angeles, California. with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.

Career Peña began his career as a financial analyst on Wall Street. He went on to become president of Great Western Resources, Inc., a Houston-based oil company listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1984.

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

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 hire charges into their own account. Peña said he forgave the employee and covered the £130,000 stolen from clients.

Peña refers to himself as the "trillion-dollar man." He polled just 733 votes (1.5 percent) of the votes cast, coming sixth out of six candidates. The seat was won by the Scottish National Party candidate.

Peña made several provocative statements during his parliamentary run, repeatedly endorsing violent methods. At a town hall meeting addressing voters, he said, "I know how to get things done now and there’s always going to be collateral damage...There will be blood on the streets and some of your blood may be that blood. What are you willing to sacrifice?" He strongly criticized the SNP, referring to the party as "brain dead" and supporters as "fucked up beyond all recognition," and former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, who he falsely claimed imposed a gag order preventing him from criticizing her. Peña also said Sturgeon would have been burnt at the stake in another era.

Peña is a climate change denier, and in 2017 claimed climate change was "the greatest fraud that has been perpetrated on mankind this century."

Personal life Peña is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States.