Dan Peña’s Biography

Daniel S. Peña, Sr., is Founder and Chairman of The Guthrie Group is a successful business coach. Based in the UK, The Guthrie Group is a consortium which act to facilitate European financial transactions on the buy and, or sell side.He was also the founder, former Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Great Western Resources, Inc. (GWRI), a Houston (USA)-based natural resources company. At the time of Mr. Peña’s decision to retire, GWRI was operational in the US, the Gulf of Mexico, the UK and South America. At the time the company was acquired (January 1997), he was the largest individual shareholder.

In an 8-year period, starting with only $820, Mr. Peña grew Great Western Resources to $445 million while energy prices collapsed, the price of oil dropped from $40 to less than $8 per barrel and more than 10,000 energy companies in the US alone went out of business.

Prior to Mr. Peña’s founding of GWRI, he was Chairman, President and Chief Executive of J.P.K. Industries, Inc., a vertically integrated company in the petroleum industry, involved in oil and gas drilling, operating, production, crude oil refining and marketing. Prior to J.P.K. Industries, he was with the investment banking firm of Bear Stearns & Co. where he advised clients throughout the US and internationally. Subsequent to his tenure at Bear Stearns, he served as President and Chief Executive of Kennedy Industries Inc., a company with major interests in real estate, insurance, financial services, and the entertainment industry. While still in university, he was made a principal in a real estate (property) sales firm and led the nation in sales. Mr. Peña has also been president of his own consulting firm, Op-U-Comp. He has served as Chairman of companies in various industries in the US, UK and Europe.

Since leaving Wall Street and while building his own companies exponentially, Peña, a success coach has successfully negotiated transactions with multinationals and several foreign governments.

He has been a lecturer for the Continuing Education for CPA’s program in the US, has traveled extensively and lectured on strategic planning, finance and economics, and has taught pro bono a year-long course to Minority Business students on entrepreneurship at his alma mater, California State University. He also volunteered his time to Rebuild LA subsequent to the devastating riots near his childhood home in Los Angeles and served at the request of the Mayor on the Executive Committee for The Alliance for a Safer LA. A son of a 28 year veteran of the LAPD, Peña has been a strong proponent of law and order.

Scottish-Castle-Amenities
Dan Pena’s house, otherwise known as Guthrie Castle, near Forfar, Scotland