how a Frenchman managed to win 50 million dollars

In the United States, a Frenchman won $50 million by betting on Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election.

A rich French man has been even richer since Wednesday thanks to a certain… Donald Trump. He calls himself Théo, and it's thanks to the Wall Street Journal that we learned his incredible story. An American story. However, he is very French. Théo is an assumed name. The man is said to be a former trader, rich, and he wants his anonymity.

In the United States, betting on bookmaker sites is a tradition, for almost anything and everything. The presidential election, like horse racing or football, is no exception. It is even an alternative tool to surveys, which gives a trend.

Théo is fond of these sites. From mid-October, they gave Donald Trump the winner. And a week before the election, the Republican candidate is even well ahead on the online betting markets. Théo likes to play, he has money, and a conviction: the polls underestimate the Trump vote. So he goes for it. And he bets… 30 million dollars on the Republican, a good part of his fortune!

We can grant him one thing, this crazy gambler: he is not afraid of risk. But he's not that crazy. The man describes himself as a specialist in financial markets. And above all, he spent before he bet: he commissioned his own opinion polls, just for him. It's not common, to say the least.

Louder than the pollsters

Result: $50 million in winnings for Théo! Because he didn't just bet on Donald Trump's victory. He also relied on the popular vote, that is to say the majority of ballots. Small reminder: in the United States, voters vote for electors who in turn elect the president. The winner can therefore have the majority of electors but not of voters. This was the case for Donald Trump in 2016, for example.

Very risky bet, but a winning bet. And he didn't stop there. Theo also predicted a victory for Donald Trump in the key state of Pennsylvania, as well as in Wisconsin and Michigan. And he was right every time.

The rich Frenchman is therefore even richer thanks to Donald Trump. He takes the opportunity to teach a little lesson to the pollsters, who were wrong. He says he has no ties to Republicans and did it for money. We can still imagine him, during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, his eyes glued to his TV screen, following the vote minute by minute… Sacred Théo.