I guess it is only a crime to lie on your financial forms if you’re underreporting. If you overreport, then nobody cares.
He was making tens of millions off his father’s deals in Manhattan real estate empire in the late 60s and early 70s. He was given control of the Trump Organization by his dad in 1971. His inheritance started on the day he was born. He is no more a great businessman than Paris Hilton.
I mean, Hilton is worth north of 100 million, and she hasn’t inherited a dollar yet, right? So, she is an infinitely better business mind, right?
Or is it possible that her parents set her up for her life? Similar to Donald.
Donald Trump’s money worth is (depending on the source) 20 to 100 times that of his father.
Paris Hiton’s (if it’s $100M), is 1/3rd of her father.
Quite a difference, wouldn’t you say?
You can dislike Donald Trump, you may think him an idiot, and you can make fun of his hair. But you cannot deny that whatever money he was given by his father, he grew it at least 20-30 if not 100+ times. If you think you can do better, please present your achievement in that area.
IMO, and I haven’t read the entire thread, he is an egomaniac who loves the limelight and who loves having a following. His ego will not let him survive an actual election and he will drop out before winning any primary.
Fred Trump’s was worth around 200 million dollars in the early 70s. His son took over his business empire and turned 200 million into 4 billion in 35 years. That’s about an 8% annual rate of return. In his dad’s industry. Using his dad’s name. And his dad’s connections. Not impressed. You’d have to be in some sort of Brewster’s Millions esque scheme to NOT have 4 billion dollars if you had that sort of leg up on life.
Paris Hilton at least had the decency to branch out from her dad’s shadow and try a new industry. Multiple industries. Say what you want, but she isn’t just riding his coattails.
Quite a difference. You’re right. I’m more impressed by Paris. By far. And she is not impressive at all.
Sorry, more like a 7% rate of return. That probably doesn’t even beat the S&P over that time period.
Not remotely impressive.
Cite?
Your first reference is to Forbes, which gave wildly varying estimates of Fred’s wealth, and cannot really be taken seriously. The second references what Fred claimed. If you take what Fred claimed seriously, then you should take what Donald claims today seriously as well - so from $200M to $10B.
Well, it’s the same source as the 4B number. So, maybe that is inflated too.
I’m using a consistent source in Forbes, so again 7% annual rate of return.
Worse than mutual funds would have been. Not impressed.
Much of Trump’s disagreement with Forbes reflects the differing amounts assigned to the Trump brand name. Donald Trump thinks that it’s worth billions on the open market. Forbes thinks that opinion is hilarious. I do too.
Trump Exaggerating His Net Worth (By 100%) In Presidential Bid “The major difference: his brand. Trump claims that his brand and brand-related deals are worth some $3.3 billion. We value his brand at just $125 million…”
I do think that Trump is talented at negotiation -he bankrupted his investors after all. He’s also skilled at self-promotion, as evidenced by the way he’s convinced many of his inflated net worth, based only on Trump’s say-so. It’s a living.
I’m actually fairly impressed with Paris Hilton. Even if you ignore that $100 million figure (which you should, as I can’t find any meaningful substantiation on the internet), leveraging a name and a sex tape into a multi-million dollar brand takes some skill in my view. And her investors didn’t bathe in red ink either: the Donald’s partners should be so lucky.
What formula are you using? I’m going with [(Y/P)[sup]1/N[/sup]] - 1 = r
Where Y is Yield
P is Starting Principle,
N is Number of years, and
r is rate of return
For me, $4B after 35 years and a $200M opening stake is 8.93%, or much closer to 9%.
Are you using some kind of compounding factor in your calculation that I’m not aware of (not that there would be anything odd about my not being aware of it)?
Trump was virtually wiped out in the early nineties and on the verge of bankruptcy. After very difficult and protracted negotiations with his creditors he managed to avoid personal bankruptcy, although he had to agree to a strict personal budget and debtor oversight of his affairs and it took him several years to pay off his remaining debts and battle back again.
So basically he built the bulk of whatever fortune he has now since roughly the mid-nineties.
P.S. - Paris Hilton has made her money in much the same way the Kardashians have and her wealth is by no means an indication that she’s anywhere near as talented in business as Donald Trump.
Yeah, using compounding interest. Which, I would think, is the best way to do the calculation. I mean, I would have to assume that he is a good enough businessman to get compounding interest! Just, that he isn’t any better than that.
You don’t get extra credit for running your dad’s business into the ground, using your dad’s name to get favorable corporate bankruptcy provisions, and then climbing out of it to achieve an annualized rate of return that is lower than investing in index funds would have been over that time period. He is not a good businessman. His dad was though.
Does anyone else always read the thread title in the alien’s voice from Predator when he’s dying and looking up at Arnold?
Yup. 
I never saw Predator, but I have seen the scene where he arms his self-destruct mechanism, and everybody beats feet to get away from the nuclear blast zone. I thought all the alien vocalized was a sardonic chuckle.
Oh, please. He built the business up to levels his father never reached…and in Manhattan, where his father was afraid to operate. He was a huge success and had already become a multi-billionaire by the time he ran into trouble in the early nineties. (This would be some twenty years after being handed the reins of the Trump Organization, btw, and in no rational sense his father’s business.) He fought long and hard to emerge from the downturn that saw him almost personally bankrupt and has battled back since to earn another multi-billion dollar fortune. Twice he’s earned multi-billion dollar fortunes and of course he gets credit for that. Building a fortune is building a fortune, and building one again from scratch after almost losing it all is even more impressive, as it demonstrates ability and not just luck.
Every day Donald Trump deals effectively with highly intelligent and highly educated architects, bankers, investors and businessmen, most of whom are at the top of their game. He is probably a genius and is and more accomplished by orders of magnitude than almost anybody. He’s not just one in a million but one in three hundred million, as there doesn’t seem to be anyone else the country remotely like him. Others have made bigger fortunes, but not in as difficult a way or as difficult a business as real estate development.
If you want to cover your ears and go “LALALALALA” to keep from having to face the facts about a guy you don’t like and are loathe to give credit to, that’s your prerogative, but I wouldn’t expect to win over many converts with the claims and denials you’re making if I were you.
Great. Then he earned his 7% annual return the hard way. Seems like a better business man would have invested in the S&P over those 40 years and earned over 9%.
Look, 4B is a lot of money. It means he’s rich. But, that number is meaningless out of context. If you start with 6B, having 4B means you suck at business. If you start with $1000 it means you are great. He’s in between there, and the numbers suggest that if you start with a few hundred million, and just continue your dad’s business, it’s just not impressive.