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But the company, which had 50 to 75 employees at its peak and $11 million in investments, lasted only about two years. The promised $100 million in financing dried up, and the company shut its doors, one of many dot-coms that went under during that period.

"It was wrong in terms of timing," Neal said.

Afterward, Neal became interim CEO of 451 Inc., a company that contracted to run the business side of entertainment companies. He was head of the company for less than a year when it was sold.

Neal said he has been "a millionaire and a pauper" in his life. He said it is no longer important that he has less money than he once did. "Money ceased to be a holy grail of my life some time ago," Neal said. "One thing I learned is that money did not buy happiness."

After his setbacks in California, Neal moved to New York in 2000. For a while he lived in Harlem, in part because he was going through a tough period financially and housing there was less expensive. He created his own financial consulting firm, Agema, which he now runs out of his home.

Out but private

Getting off the corporate fast track has freed Neal to spend more time with his two children, become more involved in volunteer efforts -- such as soup kitchens and homeless shelters -- and enter politics.

After a decade of marriage to his wife, Suzanne, the union broke up nearly 20 years ago when Neal realized he was gay. Neal said there was no sham to his marriage but that it took a number of years for him to acknowledge his sexuality.

After the divorce, Neal retained custody of his two sons, who are now adults. One son still lives with him. Neal has a partner but has declined to discuss any relationships, saying he has built a firewall around his personal life.

Neal's has tapped into a national gay network for fundraising house parties and other events.

Neal doesn't think his sexual orientation will hurt him in culturally conservative North Carolina. "Anybody who wouldn't vote for me because of my sexual orientation," Neal said, "wouldn't vote for me anyway."

Politics, Neal said, has always been in his blood. He grew up in a Democratic family and once considered running for Congress from New York.

"My intention was to make a lot of money and run for political office," Neal said.

$1 million fundraiser

During the last presidential election, Neal became a voluntary, full-time fundraiser, raising an estimated $1 million for the Democratic presidential campaign of Gen. Wesley Clark.

"I was what would be called a bundler," said Neal.

When Clark dropped out of the race, Neal raised about $500,000 for the Kerry-Edwards campaign. Neal also held a New York fundraiser for North Carolina Senate candidate Erskine Bowles.

"I consider him a very decent man and one who is in politics for the right reasons," said Bob Farmer, who was national treasurer for the Kerry-Edwards campaign.

While Neal was a successful national fundraiser for presidential candidates, campaign records show that he had raised less than $100,000 for his own campaign by the end of last year.

In 2006, Neal moved back to Chapel Hill, along with his younger son. He said he did not move back to North Carolina to run for political office.

"I wanted to come home," Neal said. "I wanted to be near my family. I wanted a different lifestyle."

Can't afford a house

Neal lives in a rented house in Chapel Hill and owns no property in North Carolina. Dole was criticized by Democrats during the 2002 campaign for not having a permanent home in North Carolina and using the address of her mother's house in Salisbury.

"I can't afford it," Neal said. "I would love to be able to own a home. I was looking at buying a home until the campaign."

Neal had put $120,000 of his own money into the Senate campaign as of December.

He entered the Senate race in October after it appeared that no prominent Democrat would challenge Dole. When Hagan entered the race with the backing of much of the party establishment, Neal decided to stay in.

"I'm running for the little man," Neal said. "My campaign is about bringing those voices to the table."

(Researcher Brooke Cain contributed to this report.)

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