Donald Trump has claimed that his net worth is in excess of $10 billion.
Ten billion dollars. If this is true, he is breathtakingly, almost unimaginably wealthy. Think about how much money that is.
If you can manage to earn just three percent interest a year on $10 billion, that’s an annual income of $300 million. Just that one year's income is a fortune that could support several generations of descendants, especially with the degradation of the estate tax that has taken place over the last several years.
So here’s what I don’t get: if Trump really is this mind-bogglingly rich, why does he need to put his name on neckties? Why does he need to sell Trump Steaks? Why does he need to license his name out for real estate properties he has nothing to do with developing?
And why does he need to attach himself to a low-class scam like Trump University?
There are a few possibilities.
Number one, he isn’t as rich as he says he is. Trump’s alleged wealth is part of his mystique. In fact, it’s the main differentiator of his political brand identity. He threw a tantrum last year when Forbes said he was only worth about $4.5 billion.
Trump does not think the lower figure suits him well.
“I’m running for president,” Trump told the magazine in an interview that it says lasted almost two hours. “I’m worth much more than you have me down [for]. I don’t look good, to be honest. I mean, I look better if I’m worth $10 billion than if I’m worth $4 billion.”
But what if he isn’t really worth $10 billion? Or even $1 billion? He has to pay for his extravagant lifestyle somehow, and all these licensing deals are what keep the jet fueled up.
But let’s say he really is as rich as he claims. Why bother with all this stuff, especially a cheesy scam ripping people off for real-estate classes held in hotel ballrooms?
That answer is, maybe it’s just his nature. Maybe at heart, no matter how much money he has, Donald Trump is just a bottom-feeding con man. Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, and grifters gotta grift.
In either case, this character is the prohibitive favorite to become the Republican Party’s nominee for President of the United States. Think about that.