The definitive look at Donald Trump's wealth

Forbes pegs the GOP president-elect's net worth at $3.7 billion—down by $800 million from last year. From depressed real estate prices to new information, a transparent, asset-by-asset breakdown of hi...

Last Updated: Nov 09, 2016, 12:27 IST15 min

Image: Jamel Toppins for ForbesDonald Trump seems disinclined to share any tax information, despite decades of precedent among presidential candidates. A lot of Trump critics have argued that he’s afraid that it will show he’s not a billionaire. Highly doubtful. First, Trump’s income will not directly correlate with the value of his assets, the debt on them or his stake in each. Second, we’ve been scouring Trump’s fortune since the debut of The Forbes 400 in 1982. Sometimes he’s up, sometimes down—and for much of the 1990s, he was off. But his fortune is real, though by no means approaching the $10 billion that Trump continues to maintain he’s worth.

After 15 months of unprecedented focus, Forbes pegs his fortune at $3.7 billion, down $800 million from a year ago. His drop in net worth is in part due to a softening of New York City’s real estate market, particularly in retail and office, where valuations are trending down. New information was also a factor. Of the 28 assets or asset classes scrutinised by Forbes, 18 declined in value, including his trademark Trump Tower on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, his downtown jewel 40 Wall Street and Mar-a-Lago, his private beachfront club in Palm Beach. Seven assets rose in value—including San Francisco’s second-tallest building, 555 California Street. One held steady. There are two new assets included in his total count. One is a 4 percent stake in an affordable housing compound in Brooklyn that is listed in Trump’s Federal Election Commission filing. In his sole real estate deal this year, Trump bought a nearly 50-year-old warehouse in Charleston, South Carolina, that was in foreclosure. The warehouse had been owned by a company, Titan Atlas, in which Donald Jr had been an investor. At one point, the younger Trump (as well as other investors) had personally guaranteed a Deutsche Bank loan to the company his dad later bought it out. As for his campaign, Trump loaned it $48 million of his own cash, which Forbes does not expect he will get back, and gave it $7 million.

The stakes are high. For the first time since H Ross Perot Sr in 1992 and again in 1996, a member of The Forbes 400 has a shot (in this case, as a major party’s nominee, a far better one) of becoming president of the United States. On the following pages you’ll find our estimates and assumptions for all his assets. And no, as with Oprah Winfrey and Mark Cuban and all the rest, we don’t subscribe an intangible value to his “brand”. Great businessmen turn brands into profits, which then get valued. The deals that putatively could get done do not.

1. Trump Tower (New York City)Type: Office and retailWhat Trump owns: 244,000 sq ftTotal value: $471 millionDebt: $100 millionNet value: $371 millionChange vs 2015: –$159 millionopened: 1983

This Fifth Avenue glass skyscraper signalled Trump’s arrival as a proper Manhattan mogul. But the contractor he hired in 1980 to demolish the existing Bonwit Teller department store allegedly used a small army of undocumented Polish labourers, who were paid off the books when paid at all, to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. Trump spent years in court battling a ruling that he was involved in the scheme before reaching a confidential settlement in 1999. He still denies wrongdoing. Trump Tower is worth $159 million less this year due to an estimated 20 percent drop in the building’s net operating income and an estimated 8 percent decline due to overall softening in Manhattan commercial real estate. Trump lives in the tower’s three-storey penthouse, which Forbes values separately.$371,000,000

2. 1290 Avenue of the Americas (New York City)Type: Office and retail What Trump owns: 30% Total value: $2.31 billionDebt: $950 millionNet value of stake: $409 million Change vs 2015: –$62 million In 1994, Trump’s 78-acre tract of land on New York’s Upper West Side near the Hudson River was saddled with debt. The Donald persuaded a group of Chinese investors to bail him out by purchasing the property—and its reported $250 million in liabilities—and keeping him on as a 30 percent limited partner. Twelve years later, the investors flipped the property for $1.76 billion and used the proceeds to purchase 1290 Avenue of the Americas and the Bank of America Center in San Francisco. Trump sued his partners to block the deal, claiming that the tract was worth far more than its sale price. Courts disagreed. Trump still owns 30 percent of the buildings purchased by his Chinese partners (who sold their 70 percent controlling stake to Vornado in 2007 for $1.81 billion). Says a New York broker: “The best thing that ever happened to him is he lost those lawsuits.” Like Trump Tower, his stake in this 45-storey office building has lost value ($62 million) due to Manhattan’s cooling market.$409,000,000

3. Niketown (New York City)Type: RetailWhat Trump owns: Ground lease through 2079Total value: $400 millionDebt: $10 millionNet value: $390 millionChange vs 2015: –$52 million Image: Anna BlancoNike’s flagship store is just around the corner from Trump Tower. Trump first got the retailer to rent the space in 1995, persuading two separate landowners to let Nike construct a single building across their adjoining parcels. (Trump doesn’t actually own the space but has the rights to lease it out until 2079.) The property—situated on prime real estate on 57th Street—generates some of the highest rents in Trump’s portfolio. But Nike is reportedly seeking to move out once its lease is up in May 2017, and Manhattan retail vacancies are on the rise, helping drive the value of this space down by $52 million since last year.$390,000,000

4. 40 Wall Street (New York City)Type: Office and retailWhat Trump owns: Ground lease through 2059Total value: $501 millionDebt: $156 millionNet value: $345 millionChange vs 2015: –$28 millionTrump’s lower Manhattan gem was designed to be the world’s tallest building when construction started in 1929. It quickly lost the title to the rival Chrysler Building, which is 100 feet taller. The 71-storey tower was secretly acquired in 1982 by Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, the former dictator of the Philippines and his extravagant wife. After Marcos was ousted from power in 1986, the building was auctioned off it changed hands a few times before Trump picked it up, reportedly for less than $10 million, in 1995. The Donald has been criticised for comments to a local TV station on 9/11 mentioning how the Twin Towers collapse made 40 Wall the tallest building downtown. The value of this property has also declined this year.$345,000,000

5. Trump Park Avenue (New York City)Type: Residential and retailWhat Trump owns: 49,564 sq ft of condos 27,467 sq ft of retailTotal Value: $191 millionDebt: $14.3 millionNet value: $177 millionChange vs 2015: –$27 million$177,000,000

6. Trump Parc/Trump Parc East(New York City)Type: Residential and retail What Trump owns: 11,750 sq ft of condos 14,963 sq ft of retail 13,108 sq ft of garage Total Value: $88 millionDebt: $0Net value: $88 million Change vs 2015: +$17 million Image: Anna BlancoTrump bought two buildings overlooking Central Park in 1981, hoping to demolish them to make way for a new skyscraper. But first he had to get rid of dozens of rent-controlled tenants in Trump Parc East (the other was a hotel). According to court filings, residents claimed Trump let the building fall into disrepair. He even publicly offered to house the city’s homeless in the vacant units. Tenants sued for harassment and claimed the place was uninhabitable. Trump disagreed, saying that he cut back on high-end services that the low rents couldn’t cover. He told the press that the building was full of rich folks taking advantage of rent control. Eventually he abandoned his plan to tear it down. He reached an agreement with tenants to convert the units into condos and allow rent-controlled residents to stay. Some still live there—as does Trump’s son, Eric. Forbes’s estimate of the property’s value is up by $17 million this year after we discovered that Trump still owns retail space and a parking garage at Trump Parc, the building next door.$88,000,000

7. Trump International Hotel and Tower, Central Park West(New York City)Type: Hotel/residential and retailWhat Trump owns: 10,578 sq ft of retail 18,370 sq ft of garage one 460-sq-ft condoTotal value: $38 millionDebt: $0Net value of stake: $38 million Change vs 2015: +$21 million $38,000,000

8. Trump World Tower, 845 United Nations Plaza(New York City)Type: Residential and retail Image: Shutterstock

What Trump owns: 9,007 sq ft of retail 28,579 sq ft of garage one 2,835-sq-ft condoTotal value: $27 millionDebt: $0 Net value of stake: $27 million Change vs 2015: –$16 million $27,000,000

9. Spring Creek Towers (Brooklyn, New York)Type: Affordable housing units What Trump owns: 4% stakeTotal value: $1 billionDebt: $408 millionNet value of stake: $25 million Trump’s father, Fred, amassed a portfolio of 20,000 Brooklyn and Queens apartments worth hundreds of millions at one point. But Donald was more interested in Manhattan. Over time the family sold most of the outer-borough holdings. The lone remaining asset from his father’s era is a 4 percent interest in Spring Creek Towers, a massive, 46-tower government subsidised housing complex with 5,881 units in Brooklyn’s East New York neighbourhood that the Trumps reportedly bought into in 1973.$25,000,000

10. Trump Plaza (New York City)Type: Residential and retailWhat Trump owns: Ground lease through 2082Total value: $27.7 millionDebt: $14.7 millionNet value: $13 million Change vs 2015: –$16 million$13,000,000

11. Trump tower Penthouse (New York City)Type: Personal residenceWhat Trump owns: 30,000 sq ftTotal value: $90 millionDebt: $0 Net value: $90 million Change vs 2015: -$10 million Opened: 1983$90,000,000

12. 555 California Street(San Francisco)Type: OfficeWhat Trump owns: 30% stakeBuilding Value: $1.645 billionDebt: $589 millionNet value of stake: $317 million Change vs 2015: +$32 million Image: Shutterstock

The other half of the deal that Trump’s Chinese investors completed in 2006. In exchange For a 78-acre tract of land on New York’s Upper West Side, The Chinese got 1290 Avenue Of Americas in New York and 555 California Street in San Francisco, then called the Bank of America Center. While valuations for San Francisco office space have dipped, the building has brought a higher net income, raising the value of Trump’s stake by $32 million.$317,000,00013. Trump National Doral MiamiType: Golf resort What Trump owns: 100%Total value: $275 millionDebt: $106 million Net value: $169 millionChange vs 2015: +$25 million$169,000,000

14. Mar-A-Lago(Palm Beach, Florida)Type: Private clubWhat Trump owns: 100%Total value: $150 millionDebt: $0Net value: $150 millionChange vs 2015: –$50 million Image: ShutterstockSpanish for ‘Sea to Lake’, Mar-a-Lago is the former estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post, the socialite who inherited General Foods in 1914. Trump bought the 126-room property for $5 million in 1985 and turned it into a private club a decade later. He has since had numerous skirmishes with the locals, including a fight with the city over flying a giant American flag on a reported 80-foot pole (the maximum height allowed at the time was 56 feet). The trophy property was the site of Trump and his third wife Melania’s 2005 wedding reception—which the Clintons famously attended. Forbes reduced its valuation after other top luxury properties, including a nearly 16-acre, 33-bedroom compound down the road, struggled to sell at a higher price. $150,000,000

15. US Golf Courses Type: 10 golf courses in 6 states plus the District of ColumbiaWhat Trump owns: 100%Total value: $225 million Debt: $18.5 million (estimated)Net value: $206 million Change vs 2015: –$72 million The ten golf clubs in Trump’s empire stretch across the nation from the seaside community of Palos Verdes, California, to the quiet suburbs of New York City. The upscale courses have been points of both pride and controversy. The Donald, who is an avid golfer, obtained a farmland tax break for a New Jersey golf club. He once also claimed to local authorities that the market value of his Westchester club was $1.4 million, to lower taxes, while listing its value at over $50 million on his federal election filings. This year, Forbes found that many of the residential lots his camp had claimed he owned on his Palos Verdes course have either already been sold or are not yet approved for sale. Trump’s camp confirmed that he has just 13 left that he can sell and another 23 not yet approved for sale, down from the 60 we gave him last year.$206,000,000

16. Scotland & Ireland golf courses Type: 3 golf resorts in 2 countries What Trump owns: 100%Total value: $85 million Debt: $0Net value: $85 million Change vs 2015: –$3 million Image: Findlay / AlamyTurnberry, the legendary seaside golf resort—which Trump bought in 2014—is bunkered in the homeland of his mother, Mary MacLeod, a native of the Isle of Lewis (her first language was Scots Gaelic). She arrived in the US when she was 18 years old, making the voyage from Glasgow to Ellis Island in 1930 with $50 in her pocket. She married Fred Trump, the son of a German immigrant, in 1936. Though Forbes upped the value of the trophy property by 7 percent this year, the falling pound and a stronger greenback have diminished its value in US dollars.$85,000,000

17. Trump Chicago Type: Hotel, condos and retail What Trump owns: 100%Total value: $169 million Debt: $50 million (estimated)Net value: $119 million Change vs 2015: –$39 million Trump had a spat with Mayor Rahm Emanuel over the hotel-condo building’s imposing Trump logo the city ended up passing an ordinance to control the size of future signs (as well as the number of them) placed along the Riverwalk. Trump also sued Deutsche Bank for an extension on the construction loan payment in 2008, citing the financial crisis as a force majeure—a clause usually reserved for unforeseen circumstances such as natural disasters. The parties finalised a settlement in 2010.$119,000,000

18. Trump International Hotel Washington, DCType: Hotel What Trump owns: Ground lease through 2075Total value: $229 millionDebt: $125 millionNet value: $104 million Change vs 2015: –$97 million Located on Pennsylvania Avenue—just down the street from you know what—in what was the Old Post Office building, Trump’s latest real estate project is scheduled to open imminently. The nearly-120-year-old structure has survived several demolition attempts in the past century and has been redeveloped into a 263-room hotel. The total value of the hotel increased by $20 million in the past year—but the net value (all that ultimately matters, in regards to Trump) dropped after Trump took on more debt, tapping $125 million of a $170 million credit line from Deutsche Bank to complete construction, up from $8 million last year. Trump’s camp claims it deserves the same premium as hotels that are valued at $1 million or more per key (room). But sources tell Forbes that since the hotel has not yet opened, it’s too early to give it the same value as more established hotels in DC. $104,000,000

19. Trump International Hotel Las VegasType: Hotel and condosWhat Trump owns: 50% stakeTotal value: $156 million Debt: $18 million (estimated)Net value of his stake: $69 millionChange vs 2015: –$27 millionOpened: 2008 Image: George Rose / Getty ImagesThe gleaming hotel—which claims to be encased in 24-karat gold glass—has been more successful than Trump’s previous forays in gambling zones. While his Atlantic City casinos suffered through corporate bankruptcies, eventually reducing his stake to nothing, this joint venture with fellow real estate billionaire Phil Ruffin (No 274) has become a premier destination by the Strip. It has 1,282 suites, more than half of which have been sold since it opened in 2008. It apparently has managed some of the properties for owners, renting them out.$69,000,000

20. Cash/Liquid Assets: $230 million Change vs 2015: –$97 million$230,000,000

21. Trump wineryType: Winery Image: Steve Hebler / APWhat Trump owns: 100%Total value: $30 million Debt: $0Net value: $30 million Change vs 2015: $0$30,000,000

22. Seven Springs(Bedford, New York)Type: Private estate What Trump owns: 100%Total value: $37.5 million Debt: $20 million (estimated) Net value: $17.5 million Change vs 2015: –$5.5 million Image: Kirsten Taggart and Will SandersonThe country home, where his children from his first marriage (to Ivana) spent their summers, was built by Eugene Meyer, publisher of the Washington Post from 1933 to 1946 and the father of Katharine Graham. The compound also included the residence of Meyer’s best friend, Henry Heinz, founder of Heinz ketchup, who died in 1919. Trump bought it in 1996 for a reported $7.5 million he planned to turn it into a golf course but reportedly failed to obtain zoning permits, eventually putting much of the land under a conservation easement. “We were mowing all the fields, cutting down trees,” Eric Trump once told Forbes of summers where his father put him and Donald Jr to work. “It was the first lessons of development from my father.” $17,500,000

23. Trump hotel Management & licencing business Type: Management and/or licencing agreements What Trump owns: 100%Total value: $123 million Debt: $0Net value: $123 million Change vs 2015: –$229 million Here are some of his most prominent licencing and management deals:Trump TorontoTrump Ocean Club (Panama) Trump HawaiiTrump Vancouver Trump BaliTrump Gurgaon (India)Trump Towers PuneTrump Plaza New Rochelle (Westchester)Trump Grande, Sunny Isles (Miami)Trump Tower at City Center (White Plains, New York)Trump Tower Mumbai Trump Towers IstanbulTrump PhilippinesTrump Parc StamfordTrump Golf DubaiTrump Tower Punta del Este

The management and licencing company has roughly two dozen properties under its umbrella. Trump’s organisation manages some of the hotels and resorts, including Trump Vancouver. Others, like India’s luxury condo Trump Tower, merely pay Trump to use his name. The highly lucrative business has enabled the Donald to spread his brand from the Philippines to Uruguay. While Trump has struck more licencing arrangements in the past year, Forbes cut the value of the portfolio after several sources suggested that the revenue from wholly owned properties like Doral Miami and Trump Las Vegas (disclosed in Federal Election Commission filings) should not be included in the valuation. Forbes already values those assets separately and thus this year subtracted their estimated revenues from the management business to avoid double counting. $123,000,000

24. Product licencingType: Consumer-products licencing Image: Josh Edelson / AFP/ Getty Images

What Trump owns: 100%Net value: $14 million Change vs 2015: –$8.75 million Image: Josh Edelson / AFP/ Getty Images

Products:Trump HomeDonald J Trump Collection (menswear)Select by Trump (coffee)Trump Natural Spring WaterTrump Fragrance$14,000,000

25. AircraftModels: 2 1989 Sikorsky S-76B Helicopters, one 1990 Sikorsky S-76B Helicopter, one 1991 Boeing 757, one 1997 Cessna 750 Citation X Image: Donald Stewart / Pacific Coast News / Newscom

What Trump owns: 100%Net value: $35 million Change vs 2015: –$27 million $35,000,000

26. Two Palm Beach, Florida, Residences Type: Personal property What Trump owns: 100%Net value: $14.5 million Change vs 2015: +$2.85 million$14,500,000

27. 809 N Canon Drive, Beverly HillsType: Personal property What Trump oOwns: 100%Net value: $9 million Change vs 2015: +$500,000 $9,000,000

28. Stark Industrial Park, Charleston, South CarolinaType: Industrial warehouseWhat Trump owns: 100%Net value: $3.5 million Change vs 2015: Purchased this year$3,500,000

Total: $3,700,000,000

First Published: Nov 09, 2016, 12:27

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Chase Peterson-Withorn

Jennifer Wang