In this news:
Donald Trump, who has long measured himself against other rich people, jumped 738 spots on the World's Billionaires list over the last year, landing at No. 700.
Jamel Toppin for forbes
Donald Trump came one appellate court ruling away from losing control of his empire. While some counted him out, his supporters hung on, supplying the votes—and crypto—he needed to save his skin and double his fortune.
What a year for Donald Trump. Twelve months ago, his political prospects were shaky, his financial future nightmarish. He had an estimated $413 million of cash on his balance sheet and a $454 million fraud judgment against him in New York State. While New York Attorney Gen-eral Letitia James mused about seizing his assets—“I look at 40 Wall Street each and every day”—Trump did what he does best: He fought, he sold, he won. The result: America’s 47th president has more than doubled his estimated fortune, from $2.3 billion to $5.1 billion.
Trump learned long ago that delays can be as valuable as victories. Admitting he could not afford to pay off the $454 million in cash, Trump’s legal team sugges-ted an appeals court waive or reduce the bond amount. Courts don’t always grant such grace, but they did in this case, dropping the requirement to $175 million and staving off an asset seizure.
Then Trump showed why he is the greatest salesman in American his-tory. The day after the courts extended a lifeline, he took his social media venture, Truth Social’s parent company, public. It’s not much of a business—a few million in revenue, tens of millions in losses—but that didn’t matter to Trump-loving investors, who bid up shares to unconscionable heights, gambling on the absurdity of it all and adding billions to Trump’s fortune in the process. The mania faded, with the stock 72% off its high, but it never disappeared, leaving Trump with a $2.6 billion stake as of March 7, the day Forbes locked in prices for its annual billionaires ranking.
That boosted his net worth, but with Trump hanging onto his shares, it offered no liquidity. So he got to work hawking a bazaar of other items—Bibles, sneakers, guitars—chipping away at the problem until he solved it by selling the most absurd product imaginable: Trumpified crypto. He started in October with a project named World Liberty Financial that targeted crypto newbies with tokens that cannot be resold and vague promi-ses of a “financial revolution.” (He’s listed as chief crypto advocate, while sons Eric, Don Jr. and NYU freshman Barron are marked down as Web3 ambassadors.) Barely anyone took notice until Trump won the presidential election a few weeks later. Then, spurred by a whiff of deregulation and $75 million of purchases from crypto hypester Justin Sun, others piled in, ultimately sending an estimated $390 million, or roughly $245 million after tax, to Trump.
Days before his inauguration, the presi-dent-elect unveiled $TRUMP, a digital token that did not even pretend to be an investment but offered gamblers another game to play. Plenty did, generating an estimated $350 million in trading fees and dollar-tied crypto for entities connec-ted to him. Trump’s exact take is murky—he has a partner in the project, an entity reportedly connected to Bill Zanker, an old friend who coauthored the 2007 book Trump: Think Big and Kick Ass—but it’s safe to assume the president walked away with at least $110 million after tax.
Trump still owes that fraud judgment—and while he appeals, interest accrues, pushing the total to about $500 million. Letitia James probably doesn’t want 40 Wall Street anymore—it’s deeply under-water, thanks to cratering values for office towers and a big loan against the property. But it’s hard to imagine that Trump, suddenly flush with nearly $800 million of estimated liquidity thanks to the sale of his tokens, is too worried about the building or the attorney general. He’s a crypto king now.
MORE FROM FORBES
ForbesTo Understand Trump’s Gaza Fantasy, Look To Atlantic CityBy Dan AlexanderForbesTrump’s Crypto Assets Are Nonsense. The Cash They Throw Off Is Very RealBy Dan AlexanderForbesMeet The Crypto Billionaire Who Helped The Trumps Make $400 MillionBy Nina BambyshevaForbes‘The Most Hated Guy On Wall Street’: The Unspoken Story Around Howard Lutnick, Trump’s Pick For Commerce SecretaryBy Dan Alexander
.png)
