Trump's $1 billion coronavirus hit

 
As of March 1, Forbes valued Donald Trump’s net worth at $3.1 billion, following months of reviewing documents and speaking with more than 50 sources. Then the markets fell apart, and we went back to work.

To approximate how much the coronavirus affected the president’s fortune, we looked at the change in price of stocks similar to each segment of his business. Commercial real estate was clearly down, with shares of several companies plunging an average of 37 percent from March 1 to March 18, the date we used to calculate fortunes for the Billionaires list. Similar decreases dragged down the value of hospitality companies, apartment owners and golf businesses. Using those declines as a guide, we applied discounts to Trump’s pre-coronavirus numbers, then reviewed the changes with industry experts.

The bottom line: A net worth valuation of $2.1 billion—a drop of $1 billion in less than a month. That will surely change again, as every index performs like an electrocardiogram. But, says New York City real estate broker Eric Anton, “The analysis, it’s as good as any other way I can think of.”

Images: Shutterstock