Let’s suppose that after Trump had bankrupted three businesses he came to you and asked to invest in the great new business he was starting. Why would you, or anyone else, put money into a Trump scheme? I cannot imagine doing that.
I hate to be defending Trump on this, but you’re being awfully simplistic about bankruptcies here.
For starters, anyone investing in any business knows there is not just a risk of losing their money. No, they know that if they make enough investments they’re guaranteed to lose money on some of them. Saying “Trump has had three bankruptcies” is absolutely meaningless information. How many successes? What were the profits on the successes? What would the net return from all businesses be if you had invested with Trump all along?
In addition, it’s entirely possible for an investor to make money even if the company goes bankrupt. A silly example: you invest $100 into a company. It takes out a loan and then pays you $500 in dividends. It declares bankruptcy. So you lose your $100 investment, but you did get $500 out of it.
Lastly, when people use the term “investor” they often mean both equity and debt. Equity investors are in the worst position in a bankruptcy because they are paid only if other debts are settled. But lets say you invested by loaning money, and you secured the loan against the big fancy hotel Trump was building. After the bankruptcy, you are left owning a big fancy hotel. It’s a hard life, but I’m sure you’ll struggle on.
Bottom line: bankruptcies are one piece of information you should look at, but a smart investor knows to look at a lot more information than that.
Because he’s had 100s of businesses and only 3 failures (bankruptcies). He’s made a ton of money on most of his endeavors. Unlike voters business folk like to look at the whole picture rather than quick talking points.
Because they are the best businesses. Lots of people tell me this, I hear it all the time. People come up to me and they say “These Trump businesses are the best!” Everyone knows this. Best businesses in the world.
Your definition of “failure” is rather limited and unrealistic. Check out this article on his many business failures, and this list of just his 13 biggest business failures.
People take risks on investments because safe investments now pay 1-2%.
Been on steady 5-8% return for the last fifteen years. Just not in bank accounts.
But I think Trump gets investors more because of the (maybe now former) glamour of association with him and his empire than for any hard financial reasons. It’s going to be very interesting to see what happens to him and his holdings in the next ten years. Or eight.
Those in the know, like large banks, stay far away from him. There are plenty of suckers who buy apartments from him on spec, some of which never get built.
And then there is Putin …
How did Donald Trump make his money?
Considering 3, 4, 6, 13, or however many you care to consider failures or at least not successes by whatever metric, they’re still only a small fraction of the total.
Except, as has been pointed out elsewhere, over the decades an investor would’ve gotten a much better return from the stock market than they would have from investing in Donald Trump.