Posted on 06/24/2015 12:38:24 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The balance sheet that Donald Trump used as a prop for his announcement Tuesday morning has impressive-looking numbers. But for those of us who deal with numbers for a living -- and who have dealt with Trump in the past -- his claim of a net worth of $8.7 billion as of last June makes no sense.
Based on my reading of the numbers and my experiences with Trump, here's my bottom line: Trump's balance sheet is certainly overinflated and doesn't seem to be tethered to much of a financial reality.
Here are some of the major reasons I say this:
1. He says that real estate licensing deals, and brand and branded development, are worth a wonderfully precise $3,320,020,000. Where on earth does this valuation come from? It's not credible without some sort of certification from a serious, impartial third-party.
2. He claims that his New York City commercial and residential properties are worth a total of $2.03 billion. But the liabilities on his balance sheet for those properties total only $332 million. That's only 16 percent of their claimed value. That's not how big-time real estate people operate -- they typically have a much higher debt level. And what is the $2.03 billion valuation based on?
3. He shows club facilities and related real estate worth valued at more than $2 billion, with only $146.6 million of liabilities. That's debt of less than 8 percent of their supposed net worth, which seems like way too little debt for their supposed net worth. And what is that net worth based on?
4. He says his partly owned properties are worth $843.1 million "net of debt." Before placing any credence in this number, I'd like to see what the properties are and what the debt consists of. And where the valuation number comes from. And I'd also like to know what valuation the other owners and/or independent third parties place on these properties.
5. He says his properties under development are worth $301.5 million, but have only $7.14 million of liabilities. In other words, they have virtually no debt. Hard to believe.
6. There are plenty of other problems, such as $317.4 million of "other assets (net of debt) and $302.3 million of "cash and marketable securities" that are defined in, shall we say, an unconventional way.
But enough, already. You get the point, I hope, that there is no way on earth to tell what Trump is actually worth, because the numbers aren't supported by anything. If he had presented this balance sheet to me in a personal finance class, I'd have given him a short message: "You're fired."
For 30 years, Trump has always doubled his alleged net worth. Who cares ?
His Father gave him $200 million in 1971 and he hasn't kept up with inflation.
The Flim-Flam man.
LOL!!
Do some research. Trump has always wildly exaggerated his wealth.
#7 The Donald has a PhD in Bullshite.
I did a cursory look at his claims the other day, because he is obviously a lying conman, just a quick look showed that his claims would not be holding up if someone started looking into them.
Yep.
Trump was claiming a net worth years ago, and if you ran the numbers, he actually had a serious NEGATIVE net worth.
7. He doesn’t come across as being as smart as some other billionaires.
Having run across Trump’s financial bread crumb trail here in Vegas, I think this article is just the tip of the iceberg.
Sixteen Reasons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFjG0WPrZtg
That’s the second Connie Francis song posted today. What’s up with that?
Who posted the other one?
It matters because his argument for himself as a candidate relies on his supposed financial acumen.
The truth is that he was born a billionaire and has frittered away most of it through incompetence.
6 Reasons to Be Skeptical of Donald Trump's Net Worth ClaimsHe's only a figg'n journalist.There are as many reasons to be skeptical of Allan Sloan's expertise on determining anyone's net worth.
If scraping up this kind of crap is the best you can do it says more about you than it does about Trump.
Tricked you!
Mine is Connie Stephens vs Connie Frances.
Flattering, since I am a secret admirer of donna’s posts. :)
I bet the IRS is going to be very interested in this version of his finances.
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