How Instagram's penny stock king became a self-employed multimillionaire

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tim timothy sykes penny stock instagram

Instagram/Timothy Sykes

Sykes with his fiancée, Bianca Alexa, in Santorini.

Timothy Sykes is a financier who flaunts his flashy lifestyle on Instagram, where photos of him working remotely in Bora Bora or sunning himself in the Maldives garner thousands of likes from his 396,000 followers.

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He's not just a trader but also an entrepreneur. Sykes claims to have made $4.3 million trading stocks, but the bulk of his income - "roughly triple that amount," he says - comes from teaching his acolytes his methods for trading penny stocks, at tuition rates of $50 to $247 per month. Sykes said he didn't have any data on how much his students are actually earning at online trading school Profit.ly.

He's a controversial figure within the finance community for his endorsement of high-risk penny stock trading, as well as his self-described "rich douchebag" image. He also once received a cease-and-desist letter from Shaquille O'Neal.

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But his Instagram feed is one of the most loved on the platform, showing him lounging around as he telecommutes from the most beautiful beaches and boats in the world. Like a less wild Dan Bilzerian, he appears to live a life that most guys dream of.

After discovering his enviable feed, we got the scoop from Sykes about what it's like to be Instagram's favorite finance bro, with a travel schedule that would make anyone jealous.

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