Bill Perkins is a multimillionaire 50-year-old gentleman whose wealth comes from managing an energy hedge fund, producing films, and playing high-stakes poker. He was born in Houston, Texas, on February 2, 1969. Below, we explore Bill's personal life and where he sources his wealth.
Bill's Personal Life
Bill's official names were William Osbourne Perkins III. He is the son of the late Bill Perkins, a football player and politician that served the New Jersey General Assembly for two terms. He was also an attorney after acquiring a degree from Seton Hall Law School in 1968. He died in February 2016.
Considering that his father was a politician in New Jersey, Bill spent his childhood in Jersey City. He graduated from St. Peter's Preparatory School in 1986. He joined the University of Iowa, where he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. However, Bill admits that he never wanted to pursue a career in electrical engineering. But, he still thinks his studies were not a waste.
Bill Perkins is 6 feet 1 inch (185 cm) tall. He weighs around 181 lbs. (82kg). He has brown eyes, and his head is shaven. Bill's zodiac sign is Aquarius.
Bill was married to Stephanie Park, with whom they have two beautiful daughters. The two have since divorced. Currently, Bill is engaged to his girlfriend, Lara Sebastian. They are probably married since Bill had his bachelor party in April 2022.
He has a close friend, Dan Bilzerian, a popular professional poker player.
A Career in Energy and Venture Capital
Bill has had an interesting career journey that has contributed to his net worth. While in college, Bill was interested in finance and trading. He was torn between pursuing a career relating to his degree and a career that would allow him to leverage his own time. A career in finance and trading won.
Like anyone starting a career, Bill did not have it easy in the finance industry. He worked as a clerk at the New York mercantile exchange. He then secured a position at El Paso Energy, AIG, and Statoil.
Perkins started his first company, Small Ventures USA, in 1997. However, it was not until 2002 that Bill had a breakthrough. He got a job at Centaurus to work for an oil trader, John D. Arnold. The same year, Bill was offered a CEO position at Skylar Capital, a hedge fund company based in Houston, Texas.
As if his cup was not already full, Bill took another role as a director of NorthernStar Natural Gas.
Earnings from Stock Market
Someone interested in the fiancé market is likely to venture into the stock market. Perkins is no different. He has invested severally, earning huge sums of money while at it.
For instance, he made a profit of $1.25 million in 2008 from trading Goldman Sachs Group Inc stock.
Earnings from Film Production
Perkins debuted as a film producer in 2009, producing a movie called After life. The film featured several stars, including Christina Ricci, Liam Neeson, and Justin Long. Perkins worked alongside Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo.
In the same year, Bill also played a small role in the comedy, The Joneses. Bill's attention to detail hugely contributed to the success of his role in production.
Other movies that Bill has co-produced include The Chameleon, Unthinkable, Cat Run, The Baytown Outlaws, Dark Around the Stars, Cat Run 2, The Roseanne for President Documentary, Frank and Cindy, How to Start a Small Business, and Ghetto Zombies. All these have contributed to Bill Perkins's net worth.
Book Sales
Most people rarely share how they accumulated wealth. Bill is not one of them. He has written a book titled Die with Zero-Getting All You Can From Your Money and Your Life.
The book is an illustration of how to live a good life at the moment. According to Bill, most people do not enjoy their lives until they retire. Unfortunately, they are too old to do the things they would enjoy.
Bill illustrates how his life is about having abundant memories to look back to instead of living on autopilot. Ideally, the book is about living rich instead of leaving all your wealth behind when you die.
Luxurious Assets
Another thing that makes up Bill Perkins's net worth is luxurious assets. He has a multi-million mansion in Lake Austin Estate in Texas. Unfortunately, it is hard to estimate the actual worth of the house.
He also has a luxurious sporting yacht called Sea Ray Stream Boat. The boat is synonymous with comfort and speed, thus one of the most expensive assets owned by Bill. He uses it to stream poker events and to cruise around with his family on weekends.
Powered by 2x 900HP diesel engines, the boat can cruise at a speed of 25 knots. It is stocked with indoor and outdoor seats, two sleeping cabins, two bathrooms, and plenty of room for sunbathing. The boat cost approximately $1.3 million.
Earnings from Poker Tournaments
Bill is a poker enthusiast. He is nicknamed as an amateur rich poker player because he is a high-stakes player. Although he makes a lot of money from his hedge fund, a significant amount of Bill's wealth comes from playing poker.
Bill always strives to be the best in any industry he ventures into. Before he started playing poker, he analyzed different poker games, learning everything he could. He has also acquired good friends from the industry who have helped him sharpen his skills.
Soon after he started playing poker, Bill graduated into playing high-stakes events. He goes by Gastrader around poker tables.
Bill's efforts in the poker world have paid off. Although he has lost a significant amount, he has also won over $2.6 million playing live events.
Key Poker Games That Contributed to Bill's Wealth
The first record of Bill playing poker is on January 12, 2012. His first game was in Paradise Island, Bahamas, where he played the $25,000 + 500 No Limit Hold 'em 8 Max – High Roller. He finished in 15th position, winning $58,020.
The second time he played poker was significant because he won his biggest win. He participated in the $111,111 No Limit Hold 'em One Drop High Roller, finishing third and winning $1,965,163 at the 44th World Series of Poker 2013 in Las Vegas.
In October 2013, he traveled to England to play the £48,500 + 1,500 No Limit Hold 'em Super High Roller event at the European Poker Tour London. He finished in fourth place and won £290,100, which was approximately $470,368.
There was not much action in 2014. This brings us to January 2015 when Bill played the $4,850 + 450 #12 Pot Limit Omaha 8-Handed (High Only) table at Paradise Island, Bahamas. He was eliminated at 7th place, pocketing $13,500. Two years later, Bill returned to the Bahamas to play $2,000 +200 No Limit Hold 'em during the PokerStars National Championship event.
Unfortunately, he did not do well like other times; he finished in 42nd place, pocketing $3,920.
He also played event #96 a few days later, finishing in position 5. Bill won $95,520 from playing the $25,000 + 500 No Limit Hold 'em Shot Clock.
Paradise Island must have been a haven for Bill because he kept returning. In 2019, Bill played the $25,000 No Limit Hold 'em at the PokerStars Players Championship. He finished in 147th position, winning $35,000.
Just three days later, Bill participated in another poker event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in Paradise Island. He played the $50,000 No Limit Hold 'em, finishing in the 8th position and winning $117,980. By the end of 2019, Bill Perkin's net worth from poker games stood at $2,756,471.
Before he started playing PokerStars Caribbean Adventure events, Bill used to play PokerStars Big Game and High Stakes Poker.
Bill has also played many online events. He is often accompanied by Dan Bilzerian, another high-stakes pro poker player. He streams most of his online events on Twitch.
Bill's latest big win includes the $2.7 million that he won in the summer of 2019, the Triton Poker Super High Roller London. He has also played poker night on Wall Street.
Bill Perkins's Net Worth and Income
Bill has several sources of income. Apart from playing poker, Bill is a hedge fund manager at Skylar Capital. The average salary for employees is $74,433, which means Bill's salary is much more. He makes a seven-figure salary yearly which contributes to his growing net worth.
Based on how much he makes from different industries, Bill is worth over $ 55 million in 2022.
While his wealth continues to grow, Perkins plans to live by what he has written in his book. He would rather spend the money he has to enjoy life than keep it and die rich. He intends to play as much poker as possible, take vacations, and generally live a comfortable life.
Bill doesn't even play poker for money. In fact, he might have lost more than he earned from poker games. He did not sit at the side of the table to watch other poker players play. Instead, he wanted to learn the hard way by investing his money in the game. As such, he has lost a lot more money than he earned.
