Trump tumbles 35 spots on rich list
IT seems running for president is hurting Donald Trump’s finances big time. The Republican nominee’s fortune fell $800-million (about R11-billion) last year, sending him tumbling 35 spots on a list of richest Americans, Forbes said this week.
The business magazine said the New York real estate mogul is worth $3.7-billion — down from an estimated $4.5-billion in March — and just over a third of the $10-billion that Trump has bragged of amassing.
Trump, who has made his fabulous wealth a key selling point in his bid for the White House, plummeted to No 156 on Forbes’s annual list of the richest 400 Americans.
It is more bad news for the Republican as his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton pulls ahead in the polls after winning last week’s first presidential debate.
“A softening of New York City’s real estate market, particularly in retail and office, where valuations are trending down, has diminished his estimated net worth,” Forbes wrote.
Of 28 Trump assets scrutinised by the magazine, Forbes said 18 fell in value, including his Trump Tower headquarters on New York’s Fifth Avenue and Mar-a-Lago, his beachfront club in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump poured $7-million into his campaign and loaned the campaign an additional $48-million, which he is unlikely to get back, Forbes said.
He did just one real estate deal this year, buying a warehouse in Charleston, South Carolina, that was in foreclosure.
In a further dig at the most loathed US presidential candidate in modern times, Forbes chose this year to highlight immigrant success stories and said a record 42 naturalised Americans made this year’s annual list.
Immigrants account for 10.5% of the list, whereas naturalised citizens make up only 6% of the population, Forbes said. Those on the list come from 21 countries, led by Israel, India, Hungary and Taiwan.
Trump has made immigration a centrepiece of his campaign, threatening to deport millions of illegal immigrants.
Fellow New York billionaire and former mayor Michael Bloomberg, who mulled for months whether to run for president this year, was No 6 on the list. Bill Gates retains the top spot with a net worth of $81-billion. He has headed the list for 23 consecutive years, Forbes said.
The billionaires on the 2016 ranking have a recordbreaking combined total net worth of $2.4-trillion, up from $2.34-trillion last year. The average net worth of a Forbes 400 member hit $6-billion, also a record high, said Forbes. —