The Donald brand: Is Donald Trump really worth US$7 billion
Donald Trump's forthcoming book, Time To Get Tough, suggests his net worth sits just a smidge over $US7 billion.
The real estate mogul and reality television star recently lost a defamation lawsuit against the book writer Timothy L. O’Brien, who wrote in Trump Nation that Trump wasn't a billionaire.
O’Brien claimed Trump’s worth was actually between $150 million and $250 million.
After the September court judgement, Michael Cohen, special counsel to Trump, was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying:
“Despite the outcome on appeal, it was proven conclusively that Mr. Trump's net worth exceeded $7 billion dollars.
“The New Jersey Court erred in its final decision even though they accurately held that ... [O'Brien's] failure to conduct research could, at most, be considered evidence of negligence.
“Mr. Trump will continue to defend his name and take legal action against anyone who disseminates false information against him or The Trump Organization.”
Constantine von Hoffman from CBS Money Watch suggested what the New Jersey Appellate Court said in its ruling was:
“O'Brien has certified that he re-interviewed his three confidential sources prior to publishing their net worth estimates, and he has produced notes of his meetings with them both in 2004 and in 2005.
“The notes are significant, in that they provide remarkably similar estimates of Trump's net worth, thereby suggesting the accuracy of the information conveyed.”
“Further, the accounts of the sources contain significant amounts of additional information that O'Brien was able to verify independently.”
Of course, nearly half of the value in Trump's latest claim is the deemed value of the Trump brand at $3 billion.
Forbes magazine puts his entire worth at $US2.9 billion.
It was interesting to see a mooted Australian home building franchise company link to The Donald that didn’t get anywhere. No doubt there are many others where press release and actuality don’t quite coincide.
Time to Get Tough, due out December 5, lists on page 182, his holdings including $US1.37 billion in New York City commercial properties and $US1.22 billion in club facilities and related real estate. Liabilities include some $US374 million in loans and mortgages.
Forbes put his brand value at $US200 million. His response: "You're ridiculous," Forbes reported.
