# Objectively, is Donald Trump a good businessman? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 28, 2017, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015 "2017-02-28T06:25:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/21 "2017-02-28T14:20:11Z")
> [@Smitty](#): > > … > > Trump started life on 3rd base, true. But he has managed to build a successful brand for himself and get elected President. That’s not nothing. Nothing you said there shows he is a great businessman, which is the question here. Making yourSELF a brand is not the same as being a great businessman. As others have pointed out, Trump loves the combative approach. He has stated a number of times that he likes departments to fight it out. My google image search skills fail me, but last month there was a pic of Trump sitting at a table smiling/smirking at the camera while behind him his cabinet and staff all seemed to be having a thousand different conversations. In other words, it looked like chaos behind him, but he was detached and smiling. Having some conflict and differing views is one thing, encouraging infighting is another. Time will tell which will be the style of Trump’s administration, but so far the signs are not good. ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/22 "2017-02-28T14:22:01Z")
Quality? ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/23 "2017-02-28T14:35:38Z")
Echoing others, define “good”? He is a successful businessman, in that he’s not broke. “Good” and “success” may not be the same thing. But I subscribe to the idea that he may not be an actual billionaire, but he plays one on TV, and that seems to work for a segment of the population (mores the pity). He relies on his “brand” which to some says “success” and “opulence”, whereas to me say “con” and “gaudy”. As someone once said, he is what a poor person imagines a rich person is - it’s the rapper fondness for “bling”. (Did I just use too many “quotation marks”? Maybe that will be my “brand”!) ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/24 "2017-02-28T14:36:53Z")
He’s mediocre or, I guess to be charitable, his performance in business has been mixed. He’s had some success but he’s had a lot of failure as well. The fact that he feels the need to inflate his worth should be telling. Several times he’s been on the verge of bankruptcy with his finances in a shambles. Certainly, there are several cases where he screwed over his investors and managed to get himself out before everything came crashing down. That alone is not the sign of a gifted businessman, IMHO anyway. He IS slated to be at the top of the chart on one very exclusive list though…I think he has a real shot at actually being one of if not THE worst president in history. [QUOTE=AK84] Would Bill Gates have been anything without a rich Dad and a Mum who was besties with the CEO of IBM? [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: Did his daddy write the software as well? Did his daddy build the relationship with Jobs and Apple too? Did his daddy build the boards for the conversions that jumped Microsoft up so quickly? Gates is so far from comparable to Trump that they might as well not even be in the same universe, let alone the same species. While I won’t say that Gates dad had zero impact on Microsoft’s success there is no comparison between that and what Trump got from his dad wrt building his buisness. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/25 "2017-02-28T15:05:57Z")
This statement by Trump provides insight into the nature of his business knowledge. Anyone skilled in business is very aware that the health care system is complex. Trump admits that he and his administration are clueless. Crane ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/26 "2017-02-28T15:06:20Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > 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. There is something innate. Somewhere in the annals of his early history I’m sure there’s a half-constructed TRUMP lemonade stand and a handful of kids with growling stomachs who were divested their lunch money. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/27 "2017-02-28T15:21:34Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > 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. This. He’s somewhat good at selling the sizzle, especially to rich fucks who should know better. He’s also very good (or has very good advisors) at gaming the system, drawing dodgy contracts and so on. And he’s doggedly good at projecting the image of success even when there’s none. But that’s not good business. That’s predatory conmanship. Good business creates value for everyone involved. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/28 "2017-02-28T15:22:11Z")
From the sheer number of properties with Trump’s name on it, not to mention his TV show, it’s hard to argue that he isn’t doing something right when it comes to his business and his brand. One doesn’t build multi-billion dollar skyscrapers with just “luck”. That doesn’t mean that Trump is a good person or a good leader. Or that his business or administration isn’t completely dysfunctional. There are plenty of dysfunctional businesses that make a lot of money. There are plenty of successful businessmen who are complete pieces of shit in their personal and professional lives. > [@AK84](#): > > 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? There are plenty of people with successful parents who didn’t achieve similar success. Bill Gate’s dad was dangerously impoverished by the standards of Bill Gate’s wealth. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/29 "2017-02-28T15:39:21Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > There are plenty of people with successful parents who didn’t achieve similar success. Bill Gate’s dad was dangerously impoverished by the standards of Bill Gate’s wealth. There are plenty of people with successful parents who are nowhere near Trump’s success. And Trump’s dad was dangerously impoverished by the standards of Trump’s wealth. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/30 "2017-02-28T16:02:07Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > There are plenty of people with successful parents who are nowhere near Trump’s success. And Trump’s dad was dangerously impoverished by the standards of Trump’s wealth. You seem to either not know or not understand relative numbers. Bill Gates dad was an attorney. He loaned his son something like $10k (in non-adjusted dollars)…maybe more, as I only recall one loan that started things off. Trump’s dad loaned Trump $14 million (in non-adjusted dollars) to start his business. I believe Gates dad is still alive or only recently died. He is or was probably worth a few tens of millions (which Gates didn’t need to inherit, regardless). Gates is currently worth over $70 billion dollars (more I think…just going on memory here). Trump inherited something like $200 million dollars (in non-adjusted dollars…so it’s a lot more today) when Trump’s dad shuffled off. Trump is worth something like $4-5 billion. Trump’s dad was not ‘impoverished by the standards of Trump’s wealth’…in adjusted dollars he was lower but in the same league. Gate’s dad was several orders of magnitude less wealthy than his son. You see the difference? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/31 "2017-02-28T16:02:35Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > From the sheer number of properties with Trump’s name on it, not to mention his TV show, it’s hard to argue that he isn’t doing something right when it comes to his business and his brand. \*\*One doesn’t build multi-billion dollar skyscrapers with just “luck”. > \*\* > That doesn’t mean that Trump is a good person or a good leader. Or that his business or administration isn’t completely dysfunctional. There are plenty of dysfunctional businesses that make a lot of money. There are plenty of successful businessmen who are complete pieces of shit in their personal and professional lives. > > There are plenty of people with successful parents who didn’t achieve similar success. Bill Gate’s dad was dangerously impoverished by the standards of Bill Gate’s wealth. You build them with Chinese steel and aluminum. So much for American jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/32 "2017-02-28T16:16:13Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Trump inherited something like $200 million dollars (in non-adjusted dollars…so it’s a lot more today) when Trump’s dad shuffled off. Trump is worth something like $4-5 billion. No one knows the exact amount of Trump’s inheritance, since it was split with other Trump children. $200M is the upper limit. Also, that happened in 1999, at the time that Trump’s worth was way more than $200M, so I really am not sure why his inheriting that is in any way relevant. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/33 "2017-02-28T16:17:57Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > No one knows the exact amount of Trump’s inheritance, since it was split with other Trump children. $200M is the upper limit. Also, that happened in 1999, at the time that Trump’s worth was way more than $200M, so I really am not sure why the his inheriting that is in any way relevant. It shows he was born on third base and didn’t invent baseball. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/34 "2017-02-28T16:52:38Z")
If the purpose of being a businessman is to make yourself richer, I wish I was as bad a businessman as Donald Trump is. He may be a horrible person and is doomed to be the worst President in his country’s history, but he lives in a gold-plated suite in a skyscraper that has his name on it and has not a material care in the world, and leveraged his business into getting elected President so he could make even more money. I’d kill to be a tenth of the failure he is. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/35 "2017-02-28T16:53:44Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > No one knows the exact amount of Trump’s inheritance, since it was split with other Trump children. $200M is the upper limit. Also, that happened in 1999, at the time that Trump’s worth was way more than $200M, so I really am not sure why his inheriting that is in any way relevant. He was worth about a billion at the time…and he inherited between $100-200 million dollars. Even if he inherited $10 million ($4 million less than the loan his dad gave him to get started) it’s STILL not in the same leage as Gates and what he got from his dad. You don’t seem to be getting the difference between $10k and $14 million, between $10 million (or $100 million - $200 million) and a billion and a guy who’s dad was worth maybe $50 million and a guy who’s worth today over $70 billion. I know…they are big numbers. Maybe I should write them out so you can see the difference?? I honestly don’t know how to say this differently since it’s such an obvious difference I’m stumped why you are arguing the point. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/36 "2017-02-28T17:27:23Z")
A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about _real_ success. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/37 "2017-02-28T18:01:37Z")
Donald Trump is a good business man in the same way Kim Kardashian is a good business woman. Marketing his name through shameless self promotion and then cashing in on his celebrity by selling his name. It’s fairly successful as far as it goes, but it’s not quite the same as being a good business man. ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/38 "2017-02-28T18:02:52Z")
In the business of the marketing and the brand creation it is obvious he is talented so in one aspect of business it is clearly successful. In the different business aspect of the operational company management he is obviously objectively not successful or good. the answer to the question if you leave the partisan political opinions to one side, is different thus according to what you mean by “good businessman” as the operational management is a different thing from the marketing and promotion. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/39 "2017-02-28T18:50:43Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > 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? I believe that was a strategy of Jack Welch, widely considered to be one of the greatest business managers ever. Although that doesn’t mean this particular approach is a good idea or works everywhere. > [@RickJay](#): > > If the purpose of being a businessman is to make yourself richer, I wish I was as bad a businessman as Donald Trump is. “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business.” --Henry Ford A real business provides value for its customers and if you’re really good you will make money as a consequence. Compare Trump to Steve Jobs, who changed the way we live with his innovative products. Now Steve Jobs might have been an asshole but his business success makes Trump’s look laughable. Trump is the opposite. He wants everybody to love him and it’s all about image, and he exploits that image to extract money from people. When you start out with millions, you can hire people to think out the details for you, and strongarm the people you do business with. And how you can you laud business success when six of your core businesses have declared bankruptcy? He may be a horrible person and is doomed to be the worst President in his country’s history, but he lives in a gold-plated suite in a skyscraper that has his name on it and has not a material care in the world, and leveraged his business into getting elected President so he could make even more money. I’d kill to be a tenth of the failure he is. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015/40 "2017-02-28T18:56:31Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > As someone once said, he is what a poor person imagines a rich person is […] It was [comedian John Mulaney](https://youtu.be/hkAmTjl0F0E?t=1m9s), who said that Trump is like a cartoon rich person. > [@John Mulaney](#): > > He was still an odd person then… to me, Donald Trump is not a rich man. Donald Trump is like what a hobo imagines a rich man to be. > > Like Trump was walking around under an underpass, and he heard some guy like “Ohh, as soon as my number comes in, I’m gonna put up tall buildings with my name on 'em! I’ll have fine golden hair, and a tv show where I fire Gene Simmons with my children.” And Trump was like “That is how I will live my life.” I am surprised that Trump does not carry around gunny sacks with big dollar signs on them and $50 bills sticking out of his pockets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/objectively-is-donald-trump-a-good-businessman/781015.md?page=3)