Trump May Have a Negative Net Worth and Was Likely Never a Billionaire

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

While President Trump ran in 2016 on the idea that he would be the wealthiest, most successful US president in history, he has been known for over-exaggerating his net worth time and time again. In fact, even though he claimed to be worth more than $10 billion during his campaign, even Bloomberg estimated that his actual net worth was closer to $2.8 Billion.'

Now the ghost-writer for the president’s New York Times Best Seller, The Art of the Deal, Tony Schwartz, says that the President may actually be in debt. While discussing Bob Woodward’s new book, ‘Fear: Trump in the White House’ Schwartz began listing some of his biggest takeaways from the book, giving his opinion on each takeaway as well.

“Takeaway #2 from Woodward’s Fear: Trump doesn’t have much money. As Jared Kushne[r] put it: ‘He doesn’t have a lot of cash.’ My own guess: after debt, Trump may have a negative net worth. And he’s never been remotely close to being a billionaire,” Schwartz tweeted.

Being so close to Mr. Trump, shadowing him for many months during the writing of his book, Schwartz would likely have quite an insight into the man’s finances. At the same time, it has been over 30 years since the book was published, meaning everything about his finances may have changed significantly since that time.

https://hillreporter.com/trump-may-have-a-negative-net-worth-and-was-likely-never-a-billionaire-according-to-author-tony-schwartz-7546

[Cirque du So-What]

1. That's gotta sting

He's probably more sensitive about his perceived wealth than his li'l toadstool.

[politicaljunkie41910]

47. Did he ever finish turning the Old Post Office in DC into a hotel?

On the day that he made his announcement that Obama was an American, he showed off his hotel claiming it was completed ahead of schedule and under budget. That turned out to be a lie. The hotel was not completed. So does anyone know whether he ever completed the hotel?

[Solomon]

58. Yeah it's done. I drive by it every day on my way

home from work. Never been inside (except when it was the PO).

[atreides1]

77. Hotel is finished

What he hasn't done is paid several contractors for the work they did!!! Trump has always been a deadbeat when it comes to paying contractors!

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/third-contractor-says-trump-didnt-pay-dc-hotel-work

[dawnie51]

2. He doesn't own much.....

he just sells his name for others to slap onto things that THEY own. For decades it has been thus. Dump is all smoke and mirrors, bluff and bluster. Some people saw it, but the less well informed didn't. You can fool a lot of the people ALL of the time.

[lagomorph777]

10. The licensing business has died; people are taking his name off of shit now.

[volstork]

12. "Shit"

being the operative word.

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Heard this same

plausible story from a Broker Friend. He and I agree on this,Trump is a Poniz. Two clues,he has these rallies only to replenish his Personal Foundation Wealth. After these so called rallies,there are stories where the Venue gets stiffed.

[TreasonousBastard]

4. During one of his divorces, the settlement was in the news and one local publication...

suggested she "cash the check quickly". Trump sued and put them out of business.

He has always BS'd about his worth, doing things like taking a partial ownership and using the full ownership number. He might own rental rights, a percentage of the land under the building, but he'll brag about owning the whole thing.

Many of "his" buildings just have an an agreement to rent his name on the outside.

And debt? He has always been over-leveraged, thus the bankruptcies.

But it's all just guesswork until we see the real numbers.

[NewJeffCT]

43. Even with the tax returns

it would likely take a team of expert accountants and tax lawyers to put it all together and decipher it all to come up with a bottom line.

[tblue37]

48. Well, Mueller has both experts and Trump's own personal accountant to help him do that. nt

[TreasonousBastard]

66. Well, last I heard he has well over 400 corporations in his little empire, so...

I would guess he's Ponzi-ing himself lending and laundering money back and forth.

So, yeah, a team of forensic accountants would be needed to sort it out.

[erpowers]

67. Forbes Magazine

That is what Forbes Magazine does. They give someone full ownership of a company even if that person only has a small share of ownership of the company. If they miscalculated Donald Trump's net worth as badly as they may have miscalculated Kylie Jenner's net worth than Trump might just have a negative net worth.

Forbes values Kylie Cosmetics at $800 million based on sales of $330 million in 2017. By comparison, last year, Avon Products generated $5.7 billion in revenue, but somehow using actual real-world math, the company is only valued at $1.5 billion. Furthermore, Avon manufactures many of its own products, while Kylie Cosmetics’ products are basically more expensive, rebranded products from Seed Beauty, which may or may not manufacture the products themselves.

So even if Kylie negotiated the best profit margin in the history of companies, it is hard for anyone with a logical business mind to believe that—after expenses—Kylie Cosmetics even made $100 million in profit. Avon’s profit on $5.7 billion in sales was $273 million dollars.

https://thegrapevine.theroot.com/according-to-forbes-calculations-im-the-next-self-made-1827556372

[TreasonousBastard]

70. That's a cute article, but it gets even weirder...

Public companies are valued according to accepted guidelines, but also to the whims of the market. Tesla, which has sold a few thousand cars and never made a penny of profit (in the hole so deep now that bankruptcy is looming) is valued as more than General Motors, which sell millions of cars profitably.

The theory is that Tesla has future worth and if it pulls itself out of the hole, it will rise to gloriously outshine GM, Toyota, and the rest of them.

Trying to value a private company by comparing it to a similar public one just doesn't work. Private companies can do things public ones can't and don't have reporting requirements or angry stockholders. In real estate, it's completely insane and much more difficult than most other businesses.

For instance, when valuing an RE company, how do you account for depreciation? The buildings have actual value if you want to sell them, but you are allowed to depreciate from the price you bought the buildings for over 10 years or so. That's for your tax bill, but how do you value them on your list of assets?

[raccoon]

5. That would really chap Trump, to taunt him he isn't a billionaire Nyah Nyah. Nt

[enid602]

54. Loser

He would have been a billionaire if he’d conservatively invested the $300 million he inherited from his Dad almost 30 years ago. I’ll bet Daddy always knew he’d be a failure and a loser.

[Polly Hennessey]

6. Right.

He just sells his name and I imagine that is not worth much in today’s market. His feeble attempts at selling products did not succeed. He is, and always has been, a salesman (malignant carnival barker). Look at his hair, his crummy suits, his limited vocabulary — he screams used-car salesman. His tacky wife and greasy, grasping children disgrace us every day. How did this happen to our country? The nightmare continues.

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Shocked. Just ... shocked.

[anarch]

8. he is wholly owned by the Russian mob

it's absurd for this miscreant to be in the position he's in. I really don't know how the general public is going to take it if/when the whole truth ever comes out. It probably won't be until after we're all long dead, if at all...I get the impression that even the Dems who have seen some inkling of the known evidence two years ago have felt compelled to keep a lid on it because it's so horrible it will irrevocably traumatize the American population.

[FakeNoose]

26. If only the media had done their job in 2016

...the orange pustule would have never even been nominated.

[dameatball]

9. Allen Weisselberg knows.

[erronis]

41. Yeah - what happened to the money guy from the dump organizations?

It's been very quiet. As is the way with the Special Counsel's office. As is the way it should be.

And then, all the sh*t hits the fan!

[lagomorph777]

11. Massively in debt to the Russian Mafia.

I am confident that's going to emerge in the Mueller report.

[rurallib]

33. not only in debt, but in debt to some really bad dudes

and I am betting they are not satisfied with his performance so far.

[lagomorph777]

74. His approval is probably in the low 20's among the oligarchs.

Which means the forecast is calling for an 80% chance of polonium.

[rurallib]

75. they could even eff up his McDonald's strategy

[lagomorph777]

76. You mean poison him with McDonald's?

I think he's doing that himself.

[KG]

13. russky oligarchs been propping him up for decades

[ProfessorGAC]

14. Been Saying That Right Here For Quite Some Time

And, much of it was based upon the opinion of analysts and the ratings bureau that measures the value of privately held companies.

I'm sure many here will recall that Moody's downgraded the value of the Trump Organization sometime in the last year by about 40%.

And, it's REALLY hard to ID the debt load of a private company. Yet, those analysts were quite certain that the debt load of that company was so much higher than originally thought, that it impacted the value by that much in one hit. (They did also mention the declining value of commercial real estate, but real estate values did not drop by 40% in big cities last year.)

Too much circus for a few bucks for a billionaire. The signs were all there.

[Pepsidog]

35. Me too. Look at his lawyer, no billionaire has Cohen for a lawyer.

[grantcart]

46. me three

There are a couple of tells

The first one is working for NBC. Those were long 12 hour shoots with a lot of rewrite etc

No billionaire is going to go through that crap when they could be having fun doing the business they love.

The other tell is that during the debates (both Republican and with Hillary) there would be a dozen barbs thrown his way but he would always emphatic respond to just one and repeat it over and over

"We will build the wall, we will build the wall, we will build the wall"

or "My hands are not small, my hands are not small, my hands are not small".

During the second or third debate my friend and I were talking on the phone and we had come to the conclusion that Trump was carrying a huge debt burden and was running to resuscitate his brand before he went down again.

Hillary was talking and she went after a number of things, Muslim ban, attacking our friends, succumbing to Russian interference and then she added "he's probably over leveraged too"

By the time it got to back to Trump his face was beet red and he yelled out "I AM NOT OVERLEVERAGED, I AM NOT OVERLEVERAGED, I AM NOT OVERLEVERAGED"

My friend and I both said at the same time "boy is he overleveraged".

This is the real reason he doesn't want his tax returns released. He isn't a tax cheat because he isn't making much money and he doesn't want people to know that the grafter is broke.

You can be broke and still have a large cash flow.

Michelle Wolf did the country a favour by saying that the emperor not only isn't wearing any clothes he doesn't have any money

She nails him at 5:40

[ProfessorGAC]

59. 4th Tell, Grant

Tax Returns! If his income was 20% of 8% of $4.8 billion, 80% of the country could estimate the net worth in 20 seconds or less.
I'm with you, totally!

[JI7]

73. yup, i always said can you see Mitt Romney or any other real wealthy person doing the Apprentice ?

even people like the kardashians who became wealthy through reality tv will do other things to make money and cut back on the tv shows if they are successful making money in other ways.

[John Fante]

15. If Trump was truly worth billions, he couldn't wait to show

us the proof. He'd hold a press conference and rally just for that.

[murielm99]

16. I have always thought this.

He has no money. Being a billionaire is tied up with his ego and his manhood. Prove he is broke, and he fails as a man, at least in his own mind.

Did you notice how uneasy he became during the debates when Hillary corrected him over the amount of money given him by his father? He wanted to claim that he did not get much from his father, and that his financial success was based on his own "stable genius."

[3Hotdogs]

24. --- and the $3M his father loaned the Taj when it was due to go under.

I was watching the Netflix bio-pic on Trump. His father sent a lawyer to buy $3M in chips. They were not placed as a bet and the lawyer took them out of the casino.

[blueinredohio]

17. I've said all along he doesn't have money.

That's why besides cheating he doesn't want to show his tax returns.

[SWBTATTReg]

18. I know that Mark Cuban challenged rump to a duel offering $10 million, rump never took the ...

bet. Coward knew he'd lose in a duel debating the issues w/ Mark Cuban.

[Midnight Writer]

19. He has made his living "kiting" loans. Jared Kushner owes hundreds of millions. Manafort is a fraud.

These are con artists who live like k royalty by borrowing money under phony circumstances, then borrowing more money to make payments on past loans, and sheltering their losses by incorporating. Their phony businesses are not designed to "make" money, they are just cash boxes they can loot until they go bankrupt.

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the TRUE Art Of The Deal.

[tblue37]

49. Like Becky Sharp in "Vanity Fair." nt

[Hoyt]

20. trump, like a lot of wealthy people, is "wealthy" only on paper.

At least before the past two years, renting his name was worth multiples of the annual royalty. I suspect that multiple is a lot less now.

[BigmanPigman]

21. He doesn't want to show his tax returns...

That was the big clue from the beginning.

[dembotoz]

22. michele wolf correspondants dinner about 6 min in

[malaise]

23. It's all fake

Don the Con is the most successful bullshitter on the planet

[sandensea]

27. +1

His one talent.

[malaise]

39. That and cheating people

A true Con

[sandensea]

25. Cheeto himself admitted in a Deutsche Bank loan doc that his net worth was $800 million at most.

The same Deutsche Bank loan Putin helped him get through his contacts therein, you'll recall.

[HipChick]

28. New Yorkers have know this for a while...

I guess the rest of the country is catching up on this lie..

[AZ8theist]

29. In other news, hurricanes are wet...NT

[Bleacher Creature]

30. People with actual wealth don't need to start fake universities.

I've been thinking this for years and can't wait until this is definitively proven.

[Jopin Klobe]

31. Trump May Have a Negative Net Worth ... "MAY"? ...

... "MAY"??? ...

... every God cursed day of his God cursed life ...

[Dave Starsky]

32. He is a broke asshole and always has been.

He ran for President because his Russian lenders offered him money to do it. He was surprised when he won. He didn't expect to win, but now he is dealing with the consequences.

[geardaddy]

34. Womp womp

[Enoki33]

36. Without his money laundering agreements with the Russian mafia

tRump would have been forced into bankruptcy again years ago. Even now his golf courses are likely running at huge losses. That explains his numerous trips there at taxpayer expense. Everything about the cretinous liar is a fraud. Why would his billionaire claim be any different?.

[underpants]

52. Yeah he adjusts his own net worth depending on how he feels daily

Golf magazine or Golf Digest called out his bullshit quoting multiple people in the gold industry about how he just is making it up.

Golf is dying. Courses closing left and right mostly to build homes. I can't tell you how many emails I get a week begging me to play at courses around here. After 1 pm you can pretty much play for under $30 anywhere.

[BobTheSubgenius]

37. You know the old saying: "Figures don't lie, but liars can figure."

I'm more than a little bit sure that his idea of net worth is how much the total property in which he holds any interest is worth.

And debt? Pfffffftttttt. Only losers make payments on debt.

[lpbk2713]

38. Trump is a lying con man.

So I would be inclined to believe the exact opposite of anything he says.

[world wide wally]

40. Everything else about him is phony...

I'm sure his declared wealth is too.

[Crunchy Frog]

42. That, and a toadstool penis. What a winner!

[Julian Englis]

44. Stories documenting tRump was barely solvent date back to the 1980s.

Here’s a good story, with a lot of documentation, from a few years back.
http://gawker.com/donald-trumps-grossly-exaggerated-net-worth-a-timeline-1711718182

[erronis]

45. Send his bills to his adulators. Cretins and tea-partiers and deplorables.

I'm sure they'll pay in a few bucks to keep Mr MAGA in golf balls.

[Racerdog1]

50. He is not worth a shit

[FakeNoose]

51. If anybody on DU is wondering "Who is Tony Schwarz and why should I care what he says?"

...please see this New Yorker article from July 2016 that explains everything.
It's a long read, but definitely worth it.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all

[Rhiannon12866]

72. Thanks for posting!

Definitely worth a read!

[Freethinker65]

53. Currently Trump appears to own the GOP. That is all he needs for now.

And he will steal everything he can during his tenure.

[dchill]

55. He owes more to Russia than he can ever repay...

In cash, that is.

[hibbing]

56. Surely the gold shitter means he's a billionaire n/t

[Az_lefty]

57. Way too many business failures to be a billionaire

Total con man

[dalton99a]

60. Real billionaires don't hustle steaks and scam people using a fake university

and steal from charities:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2017/06/06/how-donald-trump-shifted-kids-cancer-charity-money-into-his-business/
How Donald Trump Shifted Kids-Cancer Charity Money Into His Business

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-funneled-kids-cancer-charity-money-businesses-621927
Trump Funneled Cancer Charity Money to His Businesses, Associates: Report

[kacekwl]

61. All this BREAKING NEWS about trump

is stuff people with functioning brains knew before he slithered down the gold escalator.

[Lee-Lee]

62. I've said all along that's likely the real reason he hides his taxes

[marble falls]

63. Sounds like motive.

[randr]

64. If he had near what he claimed he would have flaunted the tax returns

[erpowers]

65. Investigate, Demand Tax Returns

If the Democrats are successful in gaining control of the either the House of Representatives or the House and the Senate they should force Donald Trump to turn over his tax returns. They should also investigate his finances to see how much he is really worth. It is very possible that a broke man ran a campaign claiming he would make a great President because he was a rich and successful businessman.

[UTUSN]

68. & that's the key

[smirkymonkey]

69. Stormy exposed the lie about his "manhood".

Now we just need someone to expose the lie about his prowess as a successful business man and the curtain will fall away exposing him for the fake he has always been. The charade will be discovered sooner or later. I can't wait to see him crumble.

[Hamlette]

71. it's wy he won't release his tax return, the base believes his BS, if they see proof . . .

its why you can't argue with a Trump supporter, they believe Trump and say you are lying regardless of how many sources you have. But if they saw his tax return, and it showed he didn't have much money, it would be hard to ignore, especially since we all know he is audited each year. It might start them thinking.

Maybe the only thing what would.

[Grasswire2]

78. Should we think he has been truthful on his tax returns?

He lies about EVERYTHING. Don't you think he would try to B.S. the I.R.S., even?

Yes, I know that the penalties would be severe. But I just don't see how he could be truthful.

[GoCubsGo]

79. Yeah. No kidding n/t