This article was originally published on Kueez
1. A Living Legend of Storage
It wouldn't be wrong to say that Dan Dotson has been something of a living legend in the world of auctioneering over the last few decades, but his reputation reached new heights with Storage Wars.
He has been part of the popular series from day one and there is no denying that he has seen a lot over the last decade. But his most recent development was the most exciting one.
2. It All Began With a Charity Event
The story of how Dan Dotson became who he is today is really quite remarkable. He was at the Cars, Stars, and Rock N’ Roll charity event in Indio, California, where he couldn't help but notice that there was a lovely woman who was watching him.
After she saw that he had noticed her to she came over to Dan to tell him something. But what she told the Storage Wars host next completely shocked him.
3. Sharing The Story On Twitter
Dan Dotson posted a video on Twitter in which he paraphrased the remarkable story that the woman had told him at the charity event. “An older Asian woman at the table next to me kept looking at me like she wanted to tell me something, “he said.
“[She said that] ‘My husband works for a guy and he bought a unit from you for $500 and it had a safe in it.'”. But that is just the start of an incredible story that will shock you.
4. Creating an Auctioneering Empire
Dan Dotson developed a passion for auctioneering in the 70s. By the 80s, he had already mastered the art of it. He knew that he had to follow his passion. So, he started his own auctioneering company called American Auctioneers in 1983.
But it wasn't quite easy for Dotson to enter the industry as he did a lot of things in the coming years that range from running auction houses to selling porcelain dolls.
5. A Beloved Company
Although Dan Dotson's company evolved over the years, it still stayed true to his vision. Nowadays, the company focuses most on estates, storage units, equipment, and business inventories.
It also helps organize appraisals and fundraisers. But Dotson knows that none of it would have been possible without someone really close to his heart.
6. Runs in The Family
It seems like auctioneering runs through Dan Dotson's veins. Back in the day, his grandfather had worked as a farm auctioneer which is how young Dotson developed his passion for it at such an early age.
In fact, he was only 11 years old when his granddad taught him the art of auctioneering. Dotson was so intrigued by it that he would compromise his education for it.
7. Laura's Love for Bringing People Together
Although it seems like Dan and Laura have been together for like ever, there was a time when both of them doing their own thing. Before Laura met Dan, she was already running restaurants.
She loved bringing people together so much that she was even thinking about opening a restaurant that made the best pizza in town. In 1993, she needed pizza-making equipment for her new restaurant.
8. When Magic Happened
Just when Laura wanted pizza-making equipment, she met Dan. He was selling a restaurant and its contents. It seems like they were destined to meet and become inseparable.
Although Laura believes that he was trying to get her attention so he could sell things to her, Dan always says that he was trying to flirt with her. Whatever the reason was, it worked out for them, and the rest is history.
9. Laura's Keen Eye
Many casual fans of Dan Dotson don't know that he wasn't really that famous up until a decade ago. People in the business knew who he was, but the general public didn’t know a lot about him. In fact, it was Laura who noticed her husband as a charismatic auctioneer and advised him to record himself on the job.
Dan acted upon the advice and created a YouTube channel. He kept on posting videos of himself doing what he knows best. Out of the blue TV producer, Thom Beers, approached Dan at one of his auctions with an idea. He wanted to make a reality show about auctions starring Dan Dotson.
10. A Big Health Scare
Dan and Laura Dotson's careers only got better over time, but there were some truly scary moments as well. Back in 2014. in the early hours of a summer morning, Dan started asking "weird questions" while asleep. Once he woke up, he got out of bed... and immediately fell hard.
He was rushed to the hospital where it was discovered that he had suffered a double aneurysm. The doctors later said that had Laura not been performing CPR on him until the paramedics arrived it was unlikely he would've survived. He underwent surgery and his wife was right beside him throughout the recovery period.
11. Not The Same Without Dan Dotson
Over the next decade, Storage Wars became one of the most popular reality shows. Millions of viewers tuned in to watch Dan and Laura Dotson at work.
Although the show has made a name for itself as being extremely divisive, almost everyone agrees that the show wouldn't be the same without Dan and Laura Dotson. Examiner.com wrote in 2015 that, “Thom Beers came up with the idea for Storage Wars, but said that Dan and Laura Dotson inspired it.”
12. The Craziest Discovery
The woman who approached Dan Dotson told him something that shook him to his core. She told him that a friend of hers had bought a storage unit from him for just $500.
But what he found inside the unit was something truly remarkable...something beyond Dotson's wildest dreams.
13. Not Your Average Guy
Dan Dotson had been a successful auctioneer for over five decades. He'd seen a lot of things both during and before his time as the host of Storage Wars.
Dan might say that there's not a lot that someone could find in a storage unit that would surprise him anymore. But even after all this time, he's still on the hunt for an even bigger treasure. Now it seemed that he may have finally found it.
14. Biggest Return on a $500 Purchase
Now let's get back to the encounter of Dan Dotson with the woman. Previously, Storage Wars had auctioned off a storage unit for just $500 and someone bought it without any sort of hope of making millions out of it.
Who knew at that time that the sale of a $500 storage unit would come back to haunt the auctioneer? Dotson soon realized that he had indeed missed something incredibly valuable inside the storage unit.
15. A Safe In The Storage Unit
Dan Dotson further revealed in the storage video that the woman told him about the mysterious contents of the storage unit. According to the woman, a friend of her husband purchased the unit and was looking through its contents when he found a mysterious safe.
He wanted to find out what was inside of it. After many failed attempts to open the safe themselves, they contacted a professional to help them.
16. Even The Pro Couldn't Do It
The woman told him that her husband's friend tried opening the safe and when they couldn't do it then they contacted a professional. However, the professional who came to open the storage unit spent a good amount of time working on the safe but to no avail.
Curiosity started to increase. “The first person they called to open the safe, I guess, couldn’t, or didn’t,” Dotson said. But Dotson wasn't about to give up so easily, he knew exactly who to call...
17. They Finally Opened It
Dan Dotson knew that he needed to find the right person who knew a lot about safes and could open it without damaging the inside content. So, he contacted another professional. Even though Dan knew that this guy was a true professional, it still took him several hours to get that safe opened.
“They called a second person and when that person opened it up,” he said. But what was inside the safe? “Inside the safe, they’re normally empty, but this time it wasn’t empty…”
18. A Real Treasure Hunt
When the woman revealed the contents of the safe, Dan Dotson felt like his life flashed before his eyes. She said the words "$7.5 million," and Dotson asked the woman to repeat herself because he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Believe it or not, that man bought a storage unit for just $500 and the return on investment was $7.5 million. As unbelievable as this sounds it is 100% true.
19. Lost for Words
As expected, Dotson was so overwhelmed by the information that he had no words. He has been in the business for over five decades and never had he ever come across a storage unit that contained so much money.
Dan even started to doubt himself a little. Was he beginning to lose his touch? When he finally had the chance to make millions out of a storage box, he completely overlooked it. He was distraught by the news. Dotson posted photos of many stacks of cash and it looked like something straight out of a gangster movie. But the money was real.
20. Huge Stacks of Money
Fans of the show Breaking Bad or movie characters like Don Corleone and Tony Montana would have been proud of the photos which Dotson shared on his FB account. Dotson contacted the anonymous buyer and revealed to the public how the person unearthed stacks of cash.
The person displayed the cash in wrapping paper for the world to see. But the main question is how on earth $7.5 million ended up in a storage unit worth only $500?
21. How The Money Got There?
In the video, Dan Dotson and his wife tried finding an answer to the seven million-dollar question of how the money ended up there. “I don’t think you would forget that you have $7.5 million inside a unit,” he said.
Even Laura had a few theories on how the money got there. “Credit card went bad, it was finished, they moved away, perhaps the person went to jail. Who knows what it was it?” she said. All the signs started to point to one thing.
22. Might Be Illegal Money
Dan and Lauran weren't the only ones who had interesting thoughts on how exactly the money got there. Take an example of Rene Nezhoda, a thrift store owner who has also worked on Storage Wars. He is fully convinced the money is a result of some illicit activity. “If you find money like that, there’s probably a reason it isn’t in the bank,” he said.
But all anyone could do was to make theories and work with the information they had. No one knew anything for sure.
23. Trying To Get The Money Back
When the news broke out about a person finding $7.5 million inside a storage unit, the previous owner got in touch with that lucky person.
It seemed they decided to contact him intending to get their money back or possibly to negotiate with them some sort of deal. But what were they offering?
24. An Offer You Can Refuse
When the party with their attorney came forward and offered money to the guy who found $7.5 million, it seemed strange seeing that they were offering money in return for another sum of money. The original owner of the money offered $600,000 in exchange.
But the current owner wasn't really thrilled by the offer because hey, he already had $7.5 million. But still, the question remained: would the owner accept the offer? Or what would happen if he doesn't accept the offer of $600,000?
25. Offer Declined
As expected, the new owner declined the offer. But was the current owner doing the right thing? One speaker on a podcast, Second Shot, commented in favor of the current owner. He believed that the current owner was well within his rights to decline the offer. It also seems like fair game because they have $7.5 million.
According to the speaker, you find someone’s lost wallet then you have to return it. But this was entirely different. The previous owner simply failed to pay the rent of the storage unit and lost the money.
26. Doubled Offer
The previous owner discussed with their attorney and returned with a second offer. This time, they were willing to double the offer. They were ready to offer $1.2 million to the current owner.
But it meant that the current owner had to give back $6.3 million. While both parties sat down and discussed the matter, Dan Dotson and his wife also shared their input on what they would do in that situation.
27. Dan and Laura’s Opinion
Dan and Laura tried to put themselves in the current owner's shoes and started to consider what they would do if they were in this situation. When someone asked if he would take the $1.2 million deal, he said that he would take the deal.
It is because Dan wouldn't want to go through all the trouble of further negotiations and we think that his point is valid. “I wouldn’t ask a damn thing,” he said. “$7.5 million is a lot of money…but that’s a lot of running, too.”
28. What The Public Thought
Given that there was a large sum of money, it automatically attracted a lot of people. Just like Dan and Laura, people also shared their opinion on the matter. One user commented, “I’d keep it! Why the hell didn’t they claim it, why the hell would they let it sit until someone bought the locker?”
Another person commented, “If they had that much money, why didn’t they pay for the storage unit? Why would you put money in there anyway?”
29. Two Parties, One Winner
There are two sides to every story. Although the money discovered by the current owner could change their life, we also have to think about the other person who lost their money.
Dotson soon discovered that there was one crucial chapter of the entire story that wasn't disclosed yet.
30. He Accepted The Deal
When everyone had their say in the matter, the current owner made the decision to accept the offer of $1.5 million. It was like a reward to them for holding onto the money.
Although some people thought that the current owner was making a mistake by accepting the deal, the fact of the matter is that $1.5 million is still a big amount. But it doesn't end here because there is an important detail of the story you didn't know.
31. Dan is Fine With It
Although some may think that Dan should feel sorry because he missed a golden opportunity to make a lot of money, it is not the case. Dan already has a $4.5 million net worth which means that we won't be seeing him having too many financial issues soon.
Another reason why Dan Dotson is going to be fine with it is that he earns more than an average auctioneer. Most auctioneers make about $46,000 per year. Given that Dotson is different and has become TV's most famous auctioneer, he earns close to $300,000 per year.
32. The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree
Dan and Laura's son, Garrett Dotson, also seems to be following in the footsteps of his parents. In 2008, Garrett was only 10 years old when did some auctioneering of his own by putting up his dirt bike on auction.
Although his parents never put any pressure on him to join the family business, one can feel that he is going to become a part of their business in the future. For now, he is passionate about car-related things and works for Stance Show Off.
33. All's Well That Ends Well
So, in the end, everyone in this fascinating story got something for themselves. The current owner became a rich man, and the previous owner got their money back (most of it).
Dan Dotson ended up with a really interesting story that eventually went viral. Even though Dan has been auctioning for years, he knows he'll be talking about this for the rest of his life.