“Donald Trump, master of reinvention, has a new title: tech entrepreneur. It’s a stretch for the 75-year-old, who doesn’t even use email, preferring instead to scrawl notes in marker. But he doesn’t mind jumping into ventures in which he has little previous experience—and this gig should prove far more lucrative than the presidency. In fact, it has already boosted his net worth by $430 million.”
Trump has spent much of his life — and his presidency — exaggerating his wealth.
In a “Summary of Net Worth as of June 30, 2014” that Trump released when he announced his presidential bid in 2015, Trump claimed to be worth $8.7 billion. “I’m really rich,” Trump said at his campaign announcement that year. “I have total net worth of $8.73 billion. I’m not doing that to brag. I’m doing that to show that’s the kind of thinking our country needs.”
“Real estate values in New York City, San Francisco, Miami and many other places where he owns property have gone up considerably during this period of time,” claimed the release. “His debt is a very small percentage of value, and at very low interest rates. As of this date, Mr. Trump’s net worth is in excess of TEN BILLION DOLLARS.” (The ALL CAPS were in the original release because, well, it’s Trump.)
Trump’s actual net worth in 2015 was $4.1 billion, according to Forbes.
Trump also spent his presidency bemoaning the fact that being president was costing him money.
Pinpointing Trump’s exact wealth is extremely difficult due, in large part, to the fact that he refused to release any of his tax returns either while he was running for president or during his four years in office. Trump insisted that tax returns did a poor job of cataloging a person’s wealth, which is, um, not true.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism