Bad News For Donald Trump: He’s No Longer One Of America’s Richest Billionaires – Former President Donald Trump has been booted off the Forbes 400 rich list having lost an estimated $ 600 million in the space of a year.
The annual ranking of America’s richest individuals requires a baseline of $ 2.9 billion to be included in the prestigious list, topped by business magnate Elon Musk with an estimated $ 251 billion. Trump has an estimated net worth of $2.6 billion, around $ 300 million short of the cut-off.
The Republican frontrunner, who made much of his fortune through his (now under threat) New York business empire, bucks a trend of America’s richest increasing their fortune. Most figures were helped by a soaring stock market, pushing up their combined wealth.
For a man who has “obsessed over for decades [over the Forbes 400], relentlessly lying to reporters to try to vault himself higher on the list,” the latest development is likely to hurt. Since 1996, he’s only fallen off the list once.
The Truth Be… Expensive
Forbes notes the major factor in Trump’s loss of wealth is down to Truth Social, his social media site founded in 2021. Following his bans from most social media sites, the former president had envisioned many of his Twitter (now X) followers joining him on the site, previously predicting it would top 40 million people this year. Instead, only 6.5 million have signed up.
Forbes noted a “conservative” estimate of $ 730 million for Truth Social in 2022. However, a lack of growth for the site, along with a failed effort to take parent company Trump Media & Technology Group public, led to an updated estimate of $ 100 million.
“If Trump’s platform were thriving, he would probably have no trouble finding alternate financing. But it’s not, and there is little reason to be optimistic about Truth Social’s future,” Forbes noted.
Results Elsewhere
Trump’s office buildings have lost an estimated value of $ 170 million, much of which stems from San Francisco property, 555 California Street of which he owns 30%. Forbes noted that it is in a “struggling” area of the city, with neighboring properties selling for less than what the building cost in 2005.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the former president. Trump National Doral, his most valuable golf course, has seen a resurgence after nearly a decade of difficulty brought on by his divisive political ambitions and the COVID-19 pandemic. After profits knocked annual revenue to $ 45 million, the course is now raking in an estimated $ 106 million a year, making it worth an estimated $ 291 million before removing its $ 125 million debt.
The rest of his golf courses are doing well, too. Estimated revenues have risen to $150million at his ten other clubs across six states, up $42 million from pre-pandemic levels. Moreover, liquidation of some assets has helped boost his fortune; a reworked loan deal for 555 California Street provided him with approximately $ 162 million in cash, while the sale of his Washington D.C. hotel last year added $ 145 million to his cash pile. Combined with post-presidential speeches, book sales, and other one-off appearances, Trump’s estimated liquid holdings total $ 426 million.
Shay Bottomley is a British journalist based in Canada. He has written for the Western Standard, Maidenhead Advertiser, Slough Express, Windsor Express, Berkshire Live and Southend Echo, and has covered notable events including the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
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