Salata was born in Chile on 22 December 1965, to Orlando Salata and Hilda Rothleder. His family's roots trace back to Austria, Poland, and Germany, as his parents were emigrants who sought refuge from
Nazism in the 1930s. Salata and his family moved to
Erie, Pennsylvania when he was five. He started investing in the stock market when he was 12 to 13. In 1988, Salata graduated magna cum laude with a
Bachelor of Science in Finance and Economics from the
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. == Career ==