Andrew Beal

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.

Real estate investing

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. In 1976, he attended an auction of federal properties in Washington, DC and bid on an apartment building in Waco, Texas. 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, but left 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 2017, he sold his Dallas, Texas estate, listed previously for $132 million, through Concierge Auctions for $36.2 million.

Beal Bank and Beal Bank USA

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:

Power generation and infrastructure bonds during the post-Enron California rolling blackouts and energy-deregulation crisis in 2001

Debt instruments backed by aircraft after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US

Commercial and real estate loans during the global credit crisis of 2008

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 to 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).

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:

Beal Bank, based in Dallas

Beal Bank USA, based in Las Vegas, NV, and founded in August 2004 (formerly Beal Bank Nevada)

CSG Investments. Inc., based in Dallas

Loan Acquisition Corporation, based in Dallas

CLG Hedge Fund, LLC, based in Dallas

He has two children with his first wife. In 1996, he married Estonian immigrant Simona Beal. They have four children. Simona filed for divorce in 2010. Beal has three children with Olya Sinitsyna.

Beal is a libertarian. In the 2016 United States presidential election, Beal initially endorsed Rand Paul, donating $250,000 to the senator's campaign. Following Paul's exit from the race, Beal endorsed Donald Trump. Beal was an economic adviser to Trump's 2016 campaign. Beal donated $2 million to a Trump super PAC in September 2016, and another $1 million for the inaugural festivities according to Forbes. Beal gave more than $4 million to Trump committees and other GOP groups in 2020, and $1.8 million for Trump’s 2024 bid.

In the aftermath of the January 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, an assistant to Beal told Bloomberg News that Beal "doesn't know what happened... and he doesn't believe mainstream news reporting anymore."

Beal has donated millions of dollars to support science and math initiatives. Through his banks, Beal is an annual title sponsor of:

The Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair, affiliated with Southern Methodist University

The South Nevada Regional Science and Engineering Fair, affiliated with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Both fairs are sanctioned events of the International Science & Engineering Fair, and open to students in grades 6 through 12 with winners moving on to national and international competitions.

Beal Bank was the sponsor for the Chemistry category of the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), held in Dallas in May 2023.

Beal also donated $1 million to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, which opened in December 2012. Beal's companies donated more than 200 computers to the Dallas Independent School District for student use.