Donald Trump
Donald
Trump's father was in the real estate business in one of the
burroughs of New York City. He had accumulated a large number
of apartments which gave him a great income but also a lot of
headaches because of the rent control problems. The apartments
were rented at below market rents and a lot was spent in satisfying
the City that the rent control laws were being properly enforced.
Donald
Trump was a young man at the time and he was sent to Cincinnati
to complete the renovation of a large apartment building where
the upgrading could be done in a city without rent control and
the completed apartments rented at market rates.
Trump
completed the project and he was able to sell the property to
a local buyer for a very satisfying price just prior to the change
in the tax law in 1986 which drastically reduced the value of
investment real estate nationwide.
Having
completed this transaction in a very profitable manner for the
company, Donald Trump returned to New York to enjoy the fruits
of his labor and began frequenting the night club social scene.
He
soon became bored with the night club circuit and decided to
launch a venture of his own. Trump had heard of a trustee for
a large trust that owned a number of properties and was having
difficulty selling them. When Donald went to see the trustee
the man took a liking to Trump since he was so persistent and
just kept hanging around.
The
trustee was so impressed with the young Donald Trump and his
ability to continue pursuit of arranging a deal on the properties
that he gave Trump an exclusive contract to buy or lease the
building next to Grand Central Station.
It
was then that Donald took the pro-forma that he had put together
to most every major hotel chain in the business.
He
finally had some interest from the Pritzker family who owned
the Hyatt chain and had a large expansion program under way.
They
had almost given up on being able to obtain a central New York
location, and found the Grand Central very much to their liking.
The deal was soon consummated and Donald Trump was on his way
with Ivana managing the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
Trump's
later move into casinos was prompted by hearing a news story
on the radio that the stock in Hilton hotels had dropped 10%
due to a threatened strike in their two hotels in Las Vegas.
Since this seemed like a major concern for a chain with hundreds
of hotels, Trump investigated and found that 90% of the income
for the Hilton chain came from the two Las Vegas hotels. Needless
to say, it didn't take Donald Trump long to start building casinos
and he built the fabulous Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.
In
the late 1980s Trump's empire included Trump Tower, Trump Parc,
more than 24,000 rental and co-op apartments, the Trump Shuttle
airline, and casinos in Atlantic City, including Trump's Castle,
and the Taj Mahal as well as many private homes. He authored
abook called The Art of the Deal in 1987 and has recently published
another book about his tremendous comeback.
While
things were going well for Trump... he was not completely impervious
to the change in tax law in 1986 which precipitated the giant
real estate recession... he had a myriad of problems which he
managed to work out with the aid of the banks he was beholden
to...
By
1990 Trump was facing bankruptcy, unable to meet payments on
over $2 billion in loans owed to banks. He was able to secure
emergency financing at various times but had to give up control
of most of his real estate to the creditor banks and gradually
traded control of considerable parts of his empire including
the Trump Shuttle, casinos, and the Plaza Hotel in order to secure
more favorable debt restructuring.
Now
that the economy is back up and running and everything has turned
up roses for "The Donald"... Trump is referring to
himself as " The Comeback Kid".
Here's
a little dirt on the "Donald"
Houston
detective sues Donald Trump-Claims tycoon didn't pay for probe
Financially beleaguered New York City tycoon Donald Trump and
ex-wife Ivana's marital split may have cost a Houston private
investigator $5,394.90.
Rob
Kimmons, owner of Information Bank of Texas Inc., claims in a
lawsuit Donald Trump failed to pay him for keeping an eye on
another Houston private investigator, retained by Ivana to monitor
her then husband.
"It
just shows you - who knows who really has wealth?" said
Kimmons, whose company was tracking Clyde Wilson and his staff
as they monitored Donald Trump's relations with model Marla Maples.
"We
work so many cases involving the cream of the crop, who you would
think were financially set for life, and the next thing you know,
they're in bankruptcy."
The
Trumps were divorced in December, but distribution of property
and the validity of any pre-and-post marital agreement is expected
to be settled in an April 11 trial.
Kimmons
said Thursday his agency was hired by Trump last summer but has
not received a penny for three weeks of work.
His
company stopped the investigation, Kimmons said, because Trump
failed to deliver a retainer fee as promised. Trump representatives
only explanation was that lawyers hadn't been paid either, and
they would try to get me my money," Kimmons said. After
that they avoided my phone calls.
Judd
Burnstein, a New York City attorney who represents Trump,said,
"Our defense will be that services performed were worthless."
But,
Kimmons said he was never given any indication Trump was unhappy
with the investigation.
His
firm learned that Wilson had confirmed that Trump had an affair
with Maples and that his organization was making payments to
her.
Wilson
said Thursday he uncovered the payments and information at a
time Trump denied any such relations. The National Enquirer published
his findings, he said, and Kimmons probably verified the information
from the Enquirer.
Kimmons
said he has never read the Enquirer.
He
and Wilson do agree on one thing: They do not get along with
each other.
By
Jerry Urban, Houston Chronicle,Feb 15, 1991
Trump
Tries Reality TV... Feb. 17, 2001 —
And
so the well-heeled real estate and casino baron has proposed
Billionaire, a reality game show best described as Running Man
meets Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in which four contestants
attempt to spend $1 million in 30 minutes.
Whoever
does it first, or gets closest, wins the goods they bought or
the cash equivalent. Titular billionaire Trump will get face
time as the show's host, watching the entire spectacle from atop
his Trump Towers penthouse, where flat-screen monitors show the
action. Four cohosts, each assigned to a contestant, will narrate
the action as it moves along.
Billionaire
executive producer David Russo (whose credits also include the
upcoming military-themed USA reality series Combat Missions,
which he's executive producing with Survivor's Mark Burnett)
says Trump's powerful persona makes him the ideal host for the
show. "Trump is almost like James Bond, but without the
spy stuff," gushes Russo. "He is kind of omnipotent."
While
he may seem all-powerful, the self-made magnate has never hosted
a television show before--something Russo isn't too worried about.
"People love him, people hate him, but either way, people
love to watch him," Russo says.
Certain
rules exist to make the game challenging, but still fair, Russo
explains. A contestant can't use a phone or a computer, can only
purchase one item per establishment (at a cap of $200,000 per
item), can't buy money and can't drive. A chauffeured car will
be provided for each contestant. Potentially difficult transactions,
like buying a house or a car, will be made as simple as possible.
There will be incentives and bonuses to allow contestants to
buy extra minutes.
Contestants
will go through an application process, but won't know they whether
they've been selected to play until someone literally knocks
on their door.
Trump
tells Daily Variety he especially likes the spur-of-the-moment
selection process because people will be taken from strange situations.
"They will be enlisted when they're about to get married
or there'll be a husband in a delivery room, waiting for the
birth of his child. He can take a pass, or say, 'Honey, I'll
be back in an hour.' " (Maybe it should be called Temptation
Money.)
While
Trump is estimated to be worth about $1.7 billion and ranked
186th last year on Forbes' list of the 400 richest Americans,
the winning money will not come from Trump's (deep) pockets.
Trump
said the show reminded him of what was one of his favorite childhood
TV favorites, Millionaire--the old CBS drama about an eccentric
billionaire named John Beresford Tipton who would bestow a tax-free
$1 million to an average person. The target debut time is this
summer or fall.
"So
many people come to me with ideas and I very rarely accept them,"
Trump tells the trade paper. "This idea sounded awfully
good to me...I will make sure I devote enough time to do it right."
Russo
will executive produce with Barry Berk, a veteran producer of
Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood.
Thanks
to MSN News...