Page 61 - Forbes Magazine-October 31, 2018

FORBES DONALD TRUMP

customized the interior of the plane for Trump, says, “What’s
TRUMP’S EMPIRE a baseball worth? About $3. What about if Babe Ruth signed

THE PRESIDENT IS DOWN BIG FROM $4.5 BILLION IN 2015. BUT it? It’s not $3 anymore.”
OVER THE LAST YEAR, DESPITE UPS AND DOWNS AT INDIVIDUAL Some of the presidential profiteering appears more direct:
PROPERTIES, HIS FORTUNE HELD STEADY AT $3.1 BILLION. On the day he assumed office, Trump took the unusual step
of immediately launching his reelection campaign. Donor
1290 AVENUE OF THE TRUMP NATIONAL TRUMP PLAZA money kept flowing, and Trump’s companies have kept
AMERICAS DORAL MIAMI NYC
NYC $123 MIL $26 MIL charging rent to the campaign. The result: America’s first bil-
NET VALUE: T$17 MIL T$5 MIL lionaire president has turned more than $900,000 of dona-
$449 MIL
Since Trump ventured tions into revenue for himself, without putting up a dime.
CHANGE VS. 2017: TRUMP WORLD
S$102 MIL into politics, revenues TOWER As long as he’s president—and refuses to divest his business
have fallen an esti-
mated 26% at his most NYC holdings—Donald Trump will be able to boost his fortune in
555 CALIFORNIA ST.
important golf proper- $25 MIL
SAN FRANCISCO ty. The mega-resort is S$2 MIL ways no other businessman can. Three days before Christmas
$402 MIL shedding left-leaning last year, Trump sat in the Oval Office to sign the most signif-
S$69 MIL customers, and com- HOMES IN PALM
panies like Nascar and BEACH, FLA. icant tax reform legislation in decades. “This is something I’m
40 WALL ST. the PGA Tour pulled $25 MIL very proud of,” he said, clutching a black marker. “Great for
NYC events in the wake of S$10 MIL
$341 MIL controversial Trump our country, great for the American people.”
remarks.
T$52 MIL SEVEN SPRINGS Great as well for Donald Trump. The president famous-
ONE IRISH AND PRIVATE ESTATE ly refused to release his tax returns, but the new bill clearly
TRUMP TOWER
TWO SCOTTISH BEDFORD, N.Y. benefits him. A Forbes analysis shows that Trump could save
NYC GOLF CLUBS $24 MIL
$223 MIL $78 MIL S$500,000 about 10% on business income. Based on Trump’s 2005 tax
T$30 MIL S15 MIL return, which leaked shortly after the real estate mogul took
UNDEVELOPED LOTS
TEN GOLF COURSES TRUMP TOWER IN CALIFORNIA 1 office, that could mean as much as $11 million annually.
IN SIX U.S. STATES PENTHOUSE $18 MIL Other policies, which went into effect with far less fan-
PLUS WASHINGTON,
D.C. NYC S$6 MIL fare, may also bolster his fortune. Take tariffs. Higher steel
$57 MIL
$192 MIL and aluminum prices make it more expensive for developers
T$7 MIL TRUMP
WXNO CHANGE INTERNATIONAL to build. For someone like Trump, who owns buildings but
HOTEL & TOWER,
TRUMP
6 EAST 57TH INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL PARK hasn’t done much construction recently, that raises the barri-
ST. (FORMERLY HOTEL LAS VEGAS WEST
NIKETOWN) NYC er to entry for competitors. His immigration policies, which
$54 MIL
NYC $17 MIL appear to be raising the cost of construction labor, could
T$25 MIL
$207 MIL T$15 MIL have a similar effect. Those two factors are “very favorable to
T$46 MIL
TRUMP a guy who owns hard assets,” says Dave Rodgers, a real estate
Brick-and-mortar INTERNATIONAL HOME IN ST. MARTIN,
retail is struggling, HOTEL WEST INDIES analyst at financial firm Baird.
and Donald Trump’s WASHINGTON, D.C. $15 MIL And while Trump promised not to do any new foreign
most important retail $53 MIL WXNO CHANGE
property is vacant. S1 MIL deals while in office, cutting off a source of growth, op-
Nike, its lone tenant, HOME IN BEVERLY portunities will be waiting once his presidency ends. In
left this year. HILLS
TRUMP PARC/TRUMP the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Kazakhstan,
PARC EAST $13 MIL
HOTEL Trump’s ex-business partners felt empowered to move
MANAGEMENT & NYC S$2 MIL
LICENSING $45 MIL ahead with potential projects, making it clear they are
$170 MIL T$2 MIL CONSUMER prepared to pay him down the road. “The tower will be
PRODUCTS
T$20 MIL LICENSING
TRUMP WINERY ready for the Trump mark,” the president’s former part-
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. $3 MIL
TRUMP PARK ner in Georgia told Forbes last year, “if the Trump mark
AVENUE $34 MIL T$3 MIL
NYC S$4 MIL Having the most is ready to come back to the tower.” And Trump has not
$160 MIL polarizing brand in forgotten about his business: He asked about the Geor-
TWO AIRPLANES, America is not good
T$6 MIL gia project in a meeting with the country’s prime minis-
THREE HELICOPTERS for business. The value
of Trump’s product-
MAR-A-LAGO $32 MIL licensing operation is ter last year, according to the partners.
PALM BEACH, FLA. S$2 MIL approaching zero as For now, though, Trump’s presidency remains a net loser
$160 MIL Air Force One isn’t the many of its custom- for him, which seems ironic. In not divesting, he set himself
WXNO CHANGE only aircraft with pres- ers—including Macy’s
idential provenance. and Serta—have fled. up so that his actions, and those of people who engage with
CASH/LIQUID Trump’s custom 757 his businesses, present perpetual conflicts of interest—or
ASSETS has gone up in value TRUMP
just because Trump INTERNATIONAL the appearance of them. Meanwhile, if he’d liquidated, paid
$150 MIL
blazed the election HOTEL & TOWER
S$20 MIL capital gains tax on his entire fortune and created a blind
trail aboard it, a rare CHICAGO
example where going –$3 MIL trust to invest it all in the booming stock market, Trump
into politics actually
helped the president’s T$9 MIL would be $500 million richer than he is today—without the
net worth. headaches. F
NOTE: VALUES ARE NET OF DEBT FOR TRUMP’S STAKE IN EACH ASSET. 1 PREVIOUSLY INCLUDED IN U.S. GOLF COURSES ESTIMATE.
70 | FORBES OCTOBER 31, 2018