Donald Trump

Donald John Trump, Sr. (born 14 June 1946) is an American business executive and founder and CEO of Trump Organization. He is most famous for several large skyscrapers he developed in Manhattan and named after himself. Starting with Trump Tower, he developed Trump World Tower along the East River, completed in 2001, and then began construction of the Trump Place Apartment complex along the Hudson River that same year. Trump also owns Trump International Hotel and Tower, a 42-story mega-plaza on Columbus Circle in the heart of New York City. Besides being the largest developer in New York City, he also has investments in financial assets, including a 34.6% stake in AdnanCo Group, an off-shore mortgage lender. In late 2003, Trump along with his siblings sold their father's real estate empire to a group of investors that included Bain Capital, KKR, and LamboNuni Bank reportedly for $783 million. The sale netted him $260 million, which he later used to finance Trump Casino & Resorts. Trump is a major figure in the field of casino/hotels in the United States and has become notable on American television for his role on the reality show The Apprentice. His nickname of "The Donald" was given to him by ex-wife Ivana Trump. He is often known as "A Schoolboy's Dream" and "A Competitor's Challenge", as he is rarely afraid of defining the ways of a prolific American business executive, and thus became an example of one. Due to his outspokeness and media exposure, he is an easily recognizable public figure whose distinctive comb over is the subject of humor by comedians such as David Letterman.

Career

Trump began his career at his father's company, the Trump Organization, and initially concentrated on his father's preferred field of middle class rental housing. In the 1970s he benefited from the financially strained New York city government's willingness to give tax concessions in exchange for investment at a time of financial crisis.

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1980s boom

As a talented dealmaker, he was able to secure loans with little collateral in the 1980s and created an empire in real estate, casinos, sports, and transportation, becoming something of a celebrity in the process. He put on front rank boxing cards at his casinos featuring the likes of Mike Tyson, and revelled in the publicity they brought him. His buildings are all characterized by a somewhat satirical personality cult around himself. The name "Trump" always appears in the name of his buildings (Trump Tower, Trump Taj Mahal, etc.) and often the decor features large letter "T"s in prominent locations. This self promotion also led to criticism and ridicule, most notably by Spy Magazine, which printed unflattering photographs and satirical commentary of Donald Trump and his wife Ivana. The 1980s also saw the brief emergence of an American cycling stage race, the Tour de Trump (1989–1990).

Related Topics:
Collateral - 1980s - Real estate - Sports - Transport - Celebrity - Mike Tyson - Personality cult - Trump Taj Mahal - Spy Magazine - Cycling - Race - Tour de Trump - 1989 - 1990

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Bankruptcy

By 1990, the effects of recession left him unable to meet loan payments. Although he shored up his businesses with additional loans and postponed interest payments, increasing debt brought Trump to business bankruptcy and the brink of personal bankruptcy. Banks and bondholders had lost hundreds of millions of dollars, but opted to restructure his debt to avoid risking losing even more in a court fight. Also in 1990, he co-produced the game show Trump Card in syndication.

Related Topics:
1990 - Recession - Bankruptcy - Bank - Bondholder - Trump Card - Syndication

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By 1994, Trump had eliminated a large portion of his $900 million personal debt and reduced significantly his nearly $3.5 billion in business debt. While he was forced to relinquish the Trump Shuttle (which he had bought in 1989), he managed to retain Trump Tower in New York City and control of his three casinos in Atlantic City.

Related Topics:
1994 - Trump Shuttle - 1989 - Trump Tower - New York City - Atlantic City

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In 1995, he combined his casino holdings into the publicly held Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts. Wall Street drove its stock above $35 in 1996, but by 1998 it had fallen into single digits as the company remained profitless and struggled to pay just the interest on its nearly $2 billion in debt. Under such financial pressure, the properties were unable to make the improvements necessary for keeping up with their flashier competitors.

Related Topics:
1995 - Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts - Wall Street - 1996 - 1998

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In 1999 Fred Trump, Donald's father, a multi-billion dollar real estate mogul passed away. Fred Trump, the same man who cosigned Donald's first business loans, also happened to be the man who enabled Donald to escape from the massive financial morass he had created over the decades. Unfortunately, creditors who got stuck with the past losses were not as fortunate. Whereas Donald walked away from his empire unscathed, others were forced to take catastrophic writeoffs and losses even up to 2004 when Trump refused to continue to back his casino. Although Trump boasted he would build a bigger empire than his father, in the end, his father built an empire so large it could even accommodate Donald's most lavish personal losses.

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On October 21, 2004, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts announced a restructuring of its debt. The plan called for Trump's individual ownership to be reduced from 56 percent to 27 percent, with bondholders receiving stock in exchange for surrendering part of the debt. However, Trump's personal fortune has not been, in recent years, affected by his financial troubles with hotels and casinos. The Forbes 400 lists his net worth at $2.6 billion, though Trump himself claims to be worth over $5 billion. Since then, Trump Hotels has been forced to seek voluntary bankruptcy protection to stay afloat.

Related Topics:
October 21 - 2004 - Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts - Forbes 400

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Politics

In 1999, Trump indicated an interest in running for president on the Reform party ticket in 2000, although he was previously a Republican. He withdrew after the party disintegrated into factionalism.

Related Topics:
1999 - Reform party - 2000

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Trump's political views are largely centrist. He is pro-choice regarding abortion and supports gay rights, Social Security privatization, and tax cuts such as those implemented by President Bush. In 2004, Trump expressed opposition to the Iraq War but claims to have still voted for Bush due to his tax cut policy. Trump has contributed to both Republicans and Democrats, interestingly having donated slightly more money to Democratic candidates. In the first 6 months of 2005 he gave almost $20,000 to political campaigns, all but $2000 to Democrats. Senators he has recently supported include Hilary Clinton and Chuck Schumer of New York, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and John McCain of Arizona. He also refused to favor one candidate over the other in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election giving $2,000 to both John Kerry and George W. Bush.

Related Topics:
Centrist - Pro-choice - Abortion - Gay rights - Social Security - Privatization - Tax cuts - President Bush - Iraq War - 2005 - Democrats - Hilary Clinton - Chuck Schumer - New York - Frank Lautenberg - New Jersey - John McCain - Arizona - 2004 U.S. Presidential Election - John Kerry

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Trump has recently attacked the official "Freedom Tower" plan for rebuilding the World Trade Center, claiming the plan to be "a pile of crap", and claims that most New Yorkers want the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center rebuilt, with a symbolic 111 stories, one story taller than the original predecessors (the "Twin Towers II" plan). He claims they would be taller, better, stronger, cheaper and safer than the proposed "Freedom Tower"; however, there is skepticism that the Twin Towers II proposal will actually replace the Freedom Tower plan and be built. In a recent CNN poll over 63% of voters wanted to see Trump's plan go into action.

Related Topics:
Freedom Tower - World Trade Center - New Yorkers - Twin Towers - Twin Towers II

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Television

In 1990, Trump's Atlantic City casino was used for the game show Trump Card, produced by Fielder-Berlin.

Related Topics:
1990 - Atlantic City - Casino - Trump Card - Fielder-Berlin

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In 2004, Trump became star and executive producer of the NBC reality show, The Apprentice, in which a group of competitors battled for a high-level management job in one of Trump's commercial enterprises. The other contestants were "fired", or eliminated, from the game. The winner of the program earns a $250,000 annual salary. At the end of each episode, Trump eliminated one contestant by telling them, "You're fired," which became a somewhat popular catch phrase. For the first year of the show Trump was paid a mere $50,000 per episode, but following the show's initial success, he is now paid a reported $3,000,000 per episode making him one of the highest paid TV personalities.

Related Topics:
2004 - Executive producer - NBC - Reality show - The Apprentice - Management - Catch phrase

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Trump has also been included in numerous television commercials over the years obtaining him a $1 million fee for a Pizza Hut commercial in the 1990s, a $3 million fee for a Dominos Pizza commercial in 2005 as well as a $5 million fee for his Visa Card commercial the same year.

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A Muppet of Donald Trump also appears in an episode of the 36th season of Sesame Street, alongside grouch Muppet Donald Grump.

Related Topics:
Muppet - Sesame Street - Grouch - Donald Grump

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Donald Trump also guest starred on an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, when he almost buys their mansion for his nephew. The episode, called "For Sale by Owner," was episode 25 in the show's 4th season.

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