Can you put a price on a man’s ego? Even considering the fact that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump may not even pay taxes, the guy is pretty rich. Or hadn’t you heard? Putting a precise figure on his net worth though, is no easy task, the man refuses to release his tax returns after all.
Fortunately, he is more than happy to explain to pretty much anyone who will listen, exactly how much he thinks he is worth.
According to Trump it is:
“In excess of $10 billion.”
It’s OK, you know, you can trust him.
Trust In Trump
I know what you are thinking and yes, it’s true that he has the greasy swagger of a used car salesman circa 1986. Yes, his narcissism is on par with that of a coked-up peacock in a hall of mirrors. And few can deny that his skin tone, the texture and hue of a week old duck l’orange, speaks of a man who hides behind a facade of his own making,
But it’s OK, you can trust him.
Or can you?
Because Forbes have just released figures that paint a very different picture of the man’s finances. According to them, he’s not worth even half as much as he claims. In fact, he’s barely worth a third of that.
Their new investigation places Trump’s entire net worth at $3.7 billion.
Now, let’s be clear about one thing, that’s a sizable chunk of change. Then again, so is $6.3 billion. That many bills stacked one on top of another would be around 427 miles high, which is tall enough to become tangled in the international space station’s solar panels.
How does one misplace or even imagine that amount of money?
The answer to that requires a little digging.
The $6 Billion Dollar Brand
Trump believes that his name is synonymous with success. That it has, in everyone else’s mind, more in common with a fresh turd colored in with a gold sharpie, does not seem to bother him. As far as he is concerned, the word Trump is worth a small fortune. Actually, quite a large one.
The Trump prefix is ubiquitous. He added it to his forays into the world of quality meat, magazine publishing, vodka, board games, airlines, and mortgages, and the fact that all these businesses failed, does not seem to have tempered his belief in the value of his own name.
A belief that Forbes dismissed outright, stating:
“No, as with Oprah Winfrey and Mark Cuban and all the rest, we don’t subscribe an intangible value to his ‘brand.’ Great businessmen turn brands into profits, which then get valued. The deals that putatively[sic] could get done do not.”
Two more details stuck out as being important. Firstly, Trumps’ claim during last Monday’s debate that his FEC filing showed income of $694 million for the past year was a lie.
As Forbes was quick to point out, in the document itself, Trump:
“Freely mixed revenue with income, and it covers a period of 17 months.”
So, There’s That.
But there is also the fact that his estimated wealth is down by a staggering $800 million over last year, meaning that the self-proclaimed genius businessman, managed to lose more than the entire GDP of Samoa in just 12 short months.
Another few years like the last one, and he’ll go bankrupt.
Added to all the doom and gloom is the revelation that most of his fortune is tied up in real estate, a type of wealth that though relatively stable, is notoriously difficult to get rid of at short notice.
And as for his liquid assets.
They stand at just $230 Million, down $97 million from last year with much of it is at risk from the 3500 lawsuits he is currently fighting.
$10 billion my ass…
Watch Donald Trump lie about his net worth:
Featured Image: Screenshot Via YouTube Video.
