When it comes to his business acumen, a lot of the press I read implies that he owes his fortune to inheritance, a bit of luck and a bunch of leaving other people holding the bag. Oh the other hand, he is wildly successful, albeit not as successful as he claims. He also didn’t inherit anywhere nearly as much as he has now. That said, he’s declared bankruptcy four times and I hear no bank in the US will loan him money.
Has he made a lot of good decisions as a result of researching whether investments might be good deals, or is he basically gambling (with other people’s money) and mostly getting lucky?
My impression is that he has done great for himself, not so great for his partners, investors, contractors, etc. His great skill seems to be in convincing people to become his partners, investors, contractors, etc.
I see him as a great salesman, not a great businessman. He has that weird kind of charisma which is somehow utterly convincing to some people despite looking ridiculous to the rest of us. He’s managed to con a lot of suckers into investing in his schemes and left them holding the bag.
The business side is almost beside the point. Almost any bad idea can be made profitable for you as long as someone else eats the losses.
Would he have been anything, anything at all, without an extremely rich father? I see no reason to think so. Nothing about him is self-made - he’s essentially in the class that’s so rich that it’s very difficult for them to fail.
We’d have to know his actual wealth, that he’s hiding, but there are a lot of financial people who believe he’s worth in the 900m-1.5b range, which would mean that given the money and real estate he invested he’s doing way worse with his inherited wealth than if he just stuck the money in index funds or even lower paying investments. A great businessman could’ve taken 400m in NYC real estate, cash, and investment in 1970s money and turned it into a lot more than Trump is worth.
Would Bill Gates have been anything without a rich Dad and a Mum who was besties with the CEO of IBM?
Would Antony Kennedy have made it to the United States Supreme Court if he had not taken over his father’s practice?
Would Justin Trudeau be PM of Canada if his Dad had not been?
Of course, it’s hard to say much without seeing his financials. But given the numerous bankruptcies, that he’s a “billionaire” doing daytime TV, runs something akin to a tupperware salesman training course, and has been blackballed by all the non-third world banks, I’m saying that he’s a good businessman only in the sense that he has been able to keep living the life of a wealthy businessman. And, to some extent, that ain’t nothin. But it’s highly likely that his business accumen is purely tuned to fleecing suckers and little more than that. He doesn’t seem to be able to turn his capital holdings into profitable enterprises. He’s only able to use them as a Big Store for future marks.
From a social standpoint, we might say that if he dies living the life he’s been living all this time, then he’s a successful business man (even if then shown to be a con artist). And if he dies broke, after several years spent in jail for a variety of financial crimes, then he was simply a con artist.
But from an economic, invisible hand standpoint, I’d say that he seems to have had a calling no greater than leading a group of window breakers. And that’s certainly a failure.
Probably not, but probably the best baseball player that ever was worked as a banker and never went into the sport, and the best chess player that ever was lived a life without ever even learning the rules to the game. There is a certain amount of luck of getting a person into a spot where they have an opportunity to flourish. Having wealthy parents certainly helps you to get into a spot where you can try being a businessman, and most people don’t have that.
But Gates really did kick ass at the job. There may well have been a guy who would have done better, and yet never did much more in his life than show people through museums. That doesn’t take away from the fact that Gates made several impressive moves, through the years, that demolished his opponents and kept Microsoft on top of the heap.
He was given a fortune and has managed not to lose it yet. Had he merely shoved it in investments he’d be just as well off.
Looking at what he started with and what he’s worth now (which is debatable to say the least) I can say, hand on heart that my own modest business is…relatively…more successful than his.
That is very worrying. Inter-departmental scraps are something governments constantly battle against, how much worse will it be if the CEO is encouraging it?
He is good at marketing his brand, but I do not think he was ever a good businessman. I thought he mostly pulled out of real estate and moved into marketing in the 90s due to several bad deals.
Like others have said, define “good”. He’s managed to stay in the game at the billionaire level. On the other hand I personally would not invest in any Trump venture given his track record of failures and bankruptcies.
I believe Trump’s singular accomplishment was that he was able to convince everyone of the worth of his name. He had a marketable name, and managed to make it synonymous with opulence and quality.