I can’t find anything on it, but didn’t Trump say in an interview (late 80’s- early 90’s) that a bum on the street had more money than he did because the bum had $0. I believe he was bragging about what a business genius he was by leveraging.
I think we all are. In fact, I think there’s a pretty good chance that Trump has the lowest net worth of any individual in history.
IIRC, trump can’t sell his shares of Pravda Social, at least not for a period of time. The way I understand the deal, his partners weren’t stupid enough to let him dump everything and leave them holding the bag, like he’s done to countless others.
Trump seems to have gotten himself into a pickle. He’s at the point where he’s begging courts to lower his bond. The bond that he’s spent almost 30 days ignoring.
I don’t remember which talking head said this, but he pointed out that Trump had quite a while to prepare for this and he didn’t just mean the thirty days between when the verdict was entered and when he was expected to pay the piper. Someone with Trump’s obvious business acumen should have made preparations during the trial just in case the verdict didn’t go his way. Trump failed to plan, which just means he planned to fail. In truth, I don’t think he could have done anything because he’s not as wealthy as he claimed. He was stuck between a rock and a hard spot but he put himself there.
We have no idea the extent to which he planned. Getting the bond was an impossible ask. No planning would have had a different outcome. His people could have been trying all sorts of things.
My take is that priority #1 for his preparations was to put as much as he could away and safe from seizure, and who cares about the verdict or the appeal, they can’t take what they can’t put their hands on.
From all that I’ve seen, heard, or read regarding Mr trump, is that he does not plan. No planning. Ever.
You’re right, we can’t know for sure what strategic planning he might have tried. Given that the Trump organization hasn’t really done any business while under the watchful eye of a judicial monitor, I don’t think he’s capable of doing any kind of business without committing fraud. Between his history of fraudulent behavior and public boasts about how wealthy he is, he painted himself into a corner and really couldn’t take any actions to prepare for a verdict finding him liable. i.e. Trump simply knew he was well and truly screwed.
I think his monitor prevented that from happening. And the DA when they noticed Trump trying to change the addresses of his New York businesses to Florida addresses.
Judging from his crackpot teams of attorneys, he’s not a good planner.
Yes, I’m sure they were trying all sorts of things, but trying to get money out of over-leveraged assets is a pretty tall order. I’m sure they tried begging, threatening and gnashing of teeth, but that seems to have come up dry too.
Seconded, this request, in a most bigly manner.
It really does seem prima facie to be a a matter of self-interest for the surety companies to not deal with real estate holdings as collateral.
It certainly could be regulated, but I have not been able to find evidence of that to be the case. Or, I simply haven’t been able to understand or locate the right sources.
It’s a bit of a minor point here, but I find it interesting. If it’s a hijack of the thread, then mea culpa. I won’t say any more about the topic, in any case.
Even if he could sell Trump Media & Technology Group before the IPO (I’m assuming contractually he can’t since he made the deal with DWAC), he would get less than the pennies on the dollar you mention because the whole deal revolves around Trump personally. If he’s gone, Truth Social becomes even more worthless than it is now. For context, TS had a whopping $1.07 million in revenue in the third quarter of 2023. Who in their right mind wants to buy into that sinking ship?
After the IPO, he can’t sell his shares for 6 months, but there are some exceptions. He can ask the TMTG board to allow him to sell a limited number of his shares. DWAC can waive the lockup period at the time of the IPO, but that move probably guarantees lawsuits. He can also transfer his shares to a family member or trust.
After the IPO, he can’t use his holdings for collateral for a loan, but if he transfers his holdings to a trust, I think the trust can then use its holdings as collateral for a loan. How that applies to his bond, I have no idea other than I bet the bond companies still wouldn’t touch it with a 30,000 10,996 square foot pole.
As I understand it, the lock up deal is pretty standard for a merger like this one. But yeah, if he can make more money off of it, he’ll screw everyone at TMTG and DWAC, leave his investors holding his bag of shit, and jump back to X where 90 million fucknuts are waiting for him.
There’s nothing really new in this article, but I just like the headline. Unless he already has a bond lined up and is lying about it, I doubt he’s going to find any takers for that amount in the next five days.
Panic mode sets in for Trump as he faces deadline for massive bond | CNN Politics
I saw that news report on CNN earlier today. Yep, panic is setting in, if they’re correct. They did list a few—maybe five or so—that if liquidated, would cover the judgment. Perhaps not coincidentally, they’re among Trump’s favourite properties: Trump Tower, 40 Wall Street, Mar-a-Lago, a couple of others. But what Trump might do, or what James might move against, is unknown.
I’ve mentioned before that I’ve known a few surety underwriters, and based on what I learned from them, Trump is the kind of risk that they wouldn’t be willing to underwrite for any amount. They don’t like underwriting anything if there’s even the faintest chance that they’ll have to pay out. They want to see accurate financials certified as such by reputable accounting firms; not some stuff put together by a guy whose accountants are on his payroll, and who has been proven to value his properties one way for better loan terms, and another way for lower property taxes.
If any surety underwrites Trump’s bond, I’d be very surprised. “Panic mode” is a good way to describe what Trump is undoubtedly going through now.
He’s looking for a ‘Hail Mary’ from one of his billionaire pals (turns out they’re smarter than the rubes he’s fleecing on a regular basis). The Saudi Arabian Investment Fund is also looking bleak for a bail out (he’s got nothing special to offer - Kushner did the deed in the past by tipping off Prince Bone Saw about the CIA backing his rival in the succession race. That got him) [Kushner] the sweet deal of managing $2billion in investments).
Most billionaires I’ve heard about are notoriously cheap and above all are super-vigilant about being fleeced, especially by con-men with a long-history of dishonesty who are facing major legal troubles and possible financial ruin. Unless there’s some billionaire out there who is counting on Trump being elected and wants to buy himself a sweet Cabinet position, but even so the amount of the bond is probably just too damn high.
Thanks, I needed a good laugh to start my day.
Not only would a cabinet position be a downgrade for true billionaires, but most of Trumps own former cabinet members can attest that he sucked ass to work with, unless you kissed his ass.
Yeah, working for Trump will make you look like a sycophantic idiot if you’re lucky. If you’re not so lucky, it will land you in prison.
I love the comments that (my paraphrase) “properties cannot be liquidated to raise cash without significant loss.”
Well, gee, who’da thunk that engaging in risky self-aggrandizing investments/behaviors should ever have to bear any financial penalty. That’s un-American!
I’m also perplexed by this. There is no shortage of loans provided that use real estate as collateral. Indeed, I have one now, and I bet many of you do as well.
So perhaps there’s some legal definition of bond that can’t use real estate as collateral, but couldn’t Trump secure some other type of loan(s) and post the proceeds from that to post his bond?