When Dwight Manley’s parents attended the Christmas parties of L.A. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, they were unaware of a secret connection.
Given up for adoption at birth, Manley in 2018 learned Antonovich was his biological father. They have since reconnected.
His adopted father, Robert Manley, was a founder of Valencia National Bank in Santa Clarita; his stepmom, Sharon Manley, ran Andy Gump, which became known in the city for supplying portable toilets.
Manley’s interest in coins started at the age of 6 and he decided to skip college to concentrate on that business, much to the anger of his adopted father.
Within a year, he was making $100,000 annually at it, he said.
In the 1990s, he befriended basketball player Dennis Rodman and eventually became his agent. That led him to represent other NBA players including Karl Malone and friends with, he said, real estate tycoons such as the late Jerry Buss, who owned the Lakers, and Donald Sterling, former owner of the Clippers.
Real Estate Turn
In the 1990s, he struck gold, buying the lost treasure of the SS Central America, which had sunk in 1857. By the Business Journal’s estimate, Manley’s California Gold Marketing Group in 2000 purchased the gold for an estimated $52 million and doubled its money during subsequent sales. He also spent more than $30 million in 2018 to acquire a follow-up find. Manley declined to reveal how much he made on either deal. He said the money helped him into a new career in real estate.
“I like challenges, solving things, but my purpose in life isn’t to be a sports agent.”
How did he do so well with coins?
“When they pull a raw diamond out of the ground in South Africa, it looks like quartz and it’s not something beautiful. There are people who can see that diamond and know what it’s going to be worth. I can do that with coins,” he said.
“I can figure out how to figure things out.”
His charitable giving includes the Brea Senior Center. Recently, he donated $500,000 to Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, winning a date and a meal cooked by the singer and actress. The foundation works with researchers to help young people understand themselves better. At the event, he played poker with Leonardo DiCaprio.
“Was fun,” he quipped.
—Peter J. Brennan
