Donald Trump

Donald Trump

Donald Trump is an American business tycoon, author and TV personality. With his long list of accomplishments the billionaire has earned great success and fame in the world of business as a real estate mogul.

Donald Trump was born on 14th June 1946 in Queens, New York. As a child he was very active and confident. He was sent to the New York Military Academy at the age of 13 to channel all that energy into something more constructive. Trump was a shining star from the very beginning showing extreme talent in both academics and extra circular activities. Initially he went to Fordham University but moved to Wharton School of Finance in University of Pennsylvania. He graduated with an economics degree in 1968.

Trump was inspired by his father’s real estate dealings but this young man’s goals were far greater. After graduation he joined his father’s company ‘Elizabeth Trump and Son’. Trump realized that he wanted a more flexible environment with grander opportunities. Thus he moved to Manhattan where he got connected with some of the New York’s most influential people. He started working on large building projects in which he saw huge profit margins, modern architectural designs and public appeal.

Trump had the ability to foresee things and this clairvoyance and clever instincts led him to promote a land despite the poor economic climate. In 1978 his plans for a land near the railroad yards were selected by the city government over two other city sites. Aided by the 40 year tax abatement by the New York City government, which was very much willing to offer tax concessions in the time of recession, Trump managed to turn the Commodore Hotel to the Grand Hyatt. He also renewed the Trump Tower along with various other residential projects.

In 1990 Trump suffered a setback in his career when he threatened to sue a stock brokerage firm ‘Janney Montgomery Scott’. This firm had made negative remarks about the Taj Mahal financial prospects. However when Taj Mahal did declare bankruptcy in November 1990 the analyst was rewarded and Trump had to pay heavy compensation money. This led to mounting debts and eventually a distressful personal life. However he managed to complete the Trump World Tower in 2001 and then started the Trump Place that was a development beside the Hudson River. Trump owns several million square feet of Manhattan. He has numerous projects underway all of them quite successful. He has also invested in other companies such as Parker Adnan, Inc.

He has marketed the Trump name on many projects like the Trump Financial, Trump Sales and Leasing, Trump Entrepreneur Initiative, Trump Restaurants, Donald J. Trump Signature Collection (menswear line of accessories and watches), Donald Trump ‘The Fragrance’, Trump ‘The Game’ (a board game from 1989), Trump Steaks, Trump Magazine, Trump Ice Bottled Water, Trump Golf and Trump Vodka. According to Forbes the financial worth of the brand ‘Trump’ is 200 million dollars. He gets 1.5 million dollars for an hour of presentation that he gives at the Learning Annex. He also owns the Miss Universe Organization. In 2003 he started producing and hosting the show ‘The Apprentice’ where his initial pay was 50,000 dollars which has now increased to 3 million per episode. The ‘Forbes 400’ listed Trump to have a net worth of 2 billion that Trump claimed to be over 5 billion.