US President Donald John Trump Sr. was born on 14 June 1946, in Queens, New York City USA, of German (father) and Scottish (mother) descent, and is an entrepreneur, television personality, film and television producer, as well as an investor, and as of January 2017, President of the USA. Until recently, Donald Trump was perhaps best known for his multi-million dollar businesses and self-promotion, namely through such enterprises as “Trump Entertainment Resorts” and “The Trump Organization”, but also for making and losing several fortunes, at least theoretically.
So just how rich is Donald Trump? Even authoritative sources have trouble assessing Trump’s net worth, but have estimated that Donald’s wealth is somewhat less than he has variously claimed, at no more than $3.7 billion as of early 2017, accumulated through his various business interests during a career now spanning close to 50 years. However, failure to disclose tax returns as expected of a presidential candidate – allegedly because of continuing IRS audits, but denied by the IRS – continue to cast doubt over even this figure, partly because of volatility in the real estate market, but perhaps more so as Trump insists that he self-funded his presidential campaign. Significant assets include a casino and hotel in Atlantic City, which is called Trump Taj Mahal, and Trump Entertainment Resorts founded in 1995, after the purchase of the Atlantic City Hotel, where the business of the company is currently located. As President, his salary will be $400,000, plus an automatic $50,000 for expenses.
Donald Trump Net Worth $3.7 Billion
Donald Trump studied at The Kew-Forest School, but from 13 years of age he was enrolled at the New York Military Academy because of behavioural problems, and from where he eventually matriculated. Initially he registered at Fordham University, then transferred to Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a BA in economics in 1968, while concurrently taking a job at his father’s company, which saw the start of his net worth. At the time, Trump wasn’t drafted for military service, initially because of deferments to study, then apparently because of heel spurs. Trump’s business career started at “Elizabeth Trump and Son”, which had been established by his father. Donald Trump took full control of it in 1971, and renamed it The Trump Organization in 1999.
Trump began acquiring various properties around New York City, among which was The Taj Mahal Casino in 1988, and quickly showed his tendency for narcissism by renaming it the Trump Taj Mahal – but which resulted in bankruptcy and financial re-structuring in 1991, including the sale of the Trump Shuttle airline and his mega-yacht, the Trump Princess. Trump’s financial situation improved somewhat when his father Fred died in 1999, and divided his estate of around $300 million equally among his four surviving children. Donald continued building properties, including his New York skyscraper called Trump World Tower which was finished in 2001, and an apartment complex in Manhattan known as Trump Place. Again, many other projects are self-named, including the Trump Marina casino, and Trump Plaza, which is a part of Trump Empire. Additionally, he has been involved in golf course design, construction of casinos and hotels, and has continued to make various investments in stocks and shares.
However, not all projects have proceeded smoothly, and Trump’s net worth has experienced considerable volatility over the years, with several real estate projects under his name having foreclosed. Further bankruptcies occurred in 1992 (Trump Plaza Hotel), 2004 (Trump Hotels and Seaside Resorts), and in 2009 (Trump Entertainment Resorts); although business bankruptcies filed under Chapter 7 of the US Bankruptcy Code,, there is no doubt that Donald had considerable personal involvement in these dealings. Regardless, the value of Trump’s stake in Trump Entertainment Resorts is estimated to amount to over $200 million, and Donald’s other, current valuable assets include Trump Entertainment Resorts Riverside South, valued at $170 million, and Trump Tower, valued at $288 million.
Trump has also been involved in marketing various real estate projects around the world, but actually owns very few – apparently using his name has been very profitable, including on projects in Mexico, Dubai and The Philippines, but that situation may not continue while in public office, and also because of the persona he projected during the presidential campaign. Even so, recently the owner of Trump Towers Istanbul, who was paying Donald for using his name, now wants to dissociate the property from him following his call to prevent Muslims entering the US. This is not the first time that Trump has faced such a problem, as he first attracted public attention in 1973 when accused of violations of the Fair Housing Act for allegedly denying rental housing to racial minorities in New York.
Donald Trump had previously received most public attention when he began making appearances in the reality game show called “The Apprentice”, which first aired in 2004, although not now with Trump’s involvement. Over his years on the show, Donald Trump became known for his flamboyant manner and blunt attitude, however, he received a couple of Emmy nominations, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame apparently as a result of these shows, as well as for his appearances on WWE, during which he hosted several “WrestleMania” pay-per-views shows. In fact, for his contributions to WWE, Donald Trump was also inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Aside from property and specific TV programs, between 1996 and 2015 Trump had substantial business interests in the Miss Teen USA, Miss USA, and Miss Universe beauty pageants; the latter in particular is of public interest, but subsequently lost by Trump supposedly because of racist remarks he made.
Overall, the UK Economist magazine has analysed Donald Trump’s business career, and concluded that his “…performance has been mediocre compared with the stock market and property in New York City.”
In his less-than-private personal life, Donald Trump has been married three times, firstly to Ivana Zelnickova (1977-91) a Czech model with whom he has two sons and a daughter; they divorced because of his affair with actress Maria Marples, later his second wife (1993-99). Thirdly he married Melania Knauss, a Slovenian model in 2005, and they have a son.
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