Has Trump Ever Filed Bankruptcy

Used Little Of Own Money

The New York Times, which conducted an analysis of regulatory reviews, court records, and security filings, found otherwise, however. It reported in 2016 that Trump “put up little of his own money, shifted personal debts to the casinos and collected millions of dollars in salary, bonuses, and other payments.

“The burden of his failures,” according to the newspaper, “fell on investors and others who had bet on his business acumen.”

Legal Affairs Of Donald Trump

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In June 2016, USA Today published an analysis of litigation involving Donald Trump, which found that over the previous three decades Trump and his businesses have been involved in 3,500 legal cases in U.S. federal and state courts, an unprecedented number for a U.S. presidential candidate. Of the 3,500 suits, Trump or one of his companies were plaintiffs in 1,900 defendants in 1,450 and bankruptcy, third party, or other in 150. Trump was named in at least 169 suits in federal court. Over 150 other cases were in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida since 1983. In the 1,300 cases where the record establishes the outcome, Trump settled 175 times, lost 38, won 450, and had another 137 cases end with some other outcome. In the other 500 cases, judges dismissed plaintiffs’ claims against Trump.

The topics of the legal cases include contract disputes, defamation claims, and allegations of sexual harassment. Trump’s companies have been involved in more than 100 tax disputes, and on “at least three dozen” occasions the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has obtained tax liens against Trump properties for nonpayment of taxes. On a number of occasions, Trump has threatened legal action but did not ultimately follow through.

Celebrity Bankruptcies And What You Can Learn From Them

• Jennifer Thomas

Tax man troubles. Bad investments. Shady financial advisers. Lavish spending. These are some of the pitfalls that lead the rich and famous to file for bankruptcy. Here are seven of the most famous celebrity bankruptcies.

Most famous folks end up filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a much less common form . But some of their reasons for filing mirror the top reasons that regular folks file for bankruptcy frightening medical problems, job loss, credit debt or divorce just amped up to celebrity-size proportions.

So while we might scratch our heads wondering how someone can go from having $30 million in the bank to broke, there are lessons to be learned from famous people who have gone down that path.

In my experience, the more money, the more problems, said Michael Bovee, co-founder of Resolve, a company founded to help people in financial distress. It means higher expenses, keeping up with the Joneses, the bigger house, the bigger house payments, the more expensive car.

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Donald Trump’s Companies Filed For Bankruptcy 4 Times

Trump still touts his business sense and wealth as qualifications for president.

Donald Trump’s Bankruptcy History

Trump has built an American empire from Las Vegas to New York with towering hotels and sparkling casinos. Forbes estimates he’s worth $2.7 billion. But not all of Trump’s business ventures have been constant money-makers. In 1991, 1992, 2004, and again in 2009, Trump branded companies or properties have sought Chapter 11 protection.

“I’ve used the laws of this country to pare debt. … We’ll have the company. We’ll throw it into a chapter. We’ll negotiate with the banks. We’ll make a fantastic deal. You know, it’s like on ‘The Apprentice.’ It’s not personal. It’s just business,” Trump told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos last Thursday.

A business declaring bankruptcy is nothing new in corporate America, where bankruptcy is often sugar-coated as “restructuring debt.” But it might seem alarming to everyday Americans who can’t get a bank to restructure their home loans. If you want to get Donald Trump hot under the collar, accuse him of declaring bankruptcy.

Doug Heller, the executive director of Consumer Watchdog, said Trump is the “most egregious, almost comical example” of the disparity between what the average American faces when going through bankruptcy and the “ease with which the very rich can move in and out of bankruptcy.”

“I’m a much bigger businessman. I mean, my net worth is many, many, many times Mitt Romney’s,” Trump said.

It Will Be The Best 1996

Donald Trump has said that his brushes with financial disaster in the early 1990s reminded him of a lesson his father had taught him: Do not leave yourself on the hook for loans.

My father knew, like I knew, you dont personally guarantee, Mr. Trump is quoted saying in TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald, by Timothy L. OBrien, a former reporter for The Times. Ive told people I didnt follow my own advice.

His agreements with lenders and the two casino bankruptcies in those years still left Mr. Trump personally responsible for more than $100 million in debt, and his agreements had only delayed the day of reckoning to June 30, 1995.

He dealt with that danger by first shifting much of his personal debt onto his casinos, then onto a new group: .

Step 1 came in 1993, when his company sold more junk bonds, adding another $100 million in debt to the Trump Plaza casino. More than half of the new money went to pay off Mr. Trumps unrelated personal loans.

Then, in June 1995, with the risk of being forced into bankruptcy just weeks away, Mr. Trump shifted ownership of the Plaza casino to a new, publicly traded company: Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts. In the initial public offering, 10 million shares were sold at $14. At the same time, the company also sold another $155 million in junk bonds, at a 15.5 percent interest rate.

Indeed, the company posted losses of $66 million in 1996, $42 million in 1997 and $40 million in 1998. Those losses would continue.

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A Trump Atlantic City Timeline

• May 1984: Trump Plaza opens.

• A second casino, Trump Castle, opens. It was later renamed the Trump Marina.

• Trump opens the Taj Mahal, a 42-story, $1 billion casino-hotel, Atlantic Citys first mega-resort.

• Trump Taj Mahal files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

• Trump Plaza and Castle file prepackaged bankruptcy petitions to restructure their balance sheets.

• Trump resigns from the board of directors of Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., which declares bankruptcy.

• The casino company again files for bankruptcy protection and Trump Plaza closes. Carl Icahn, who holds much of Trump Entertainments debt, gains control of it and the Taj Mahal.

• : Hundreds of curious buyers line up for a liquidation sale at the Taj Mahal.

Staff writer Christian Hetrick contributed to this article.

Job Loss Health Care And Bankruptcy

Former Bush adviser Karen Hughes and Democratic Rep. James Clyburn both twisted facts to make partisan points on “Meet the Press.”Hughes claimed that the “vast majority” of recent job losses happened under President Obama, when in fact slightly more jobs were lost when her former boss George W. Bush was president. And Clyburn claimed that inadequate health insurance is “the biggest cause” of personal bankruptcies, which isnt quite true either. Health costs are a contributing factor to most bankruptcies,

Q: How do people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 pose a risk to people who have been vaccinated?

A: An unvaccinated person who is infected with COVID-19 poses a much greater risk to others who are also unvaccinated. But vaccines are not 100% effective, so there is a chance that an unvaccinated person could infect a vaccinated person particularly the vulnerable, such as elderly and immunocompromised individuals.

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Trump Hotel & Casino Resorts 2004

Trump didn’t go back to bankruptcy court again until November 2004, when he filed to shed debt at his various Atlantic City casinos and a riverboat in Indiana. It was another quick trip through bankruptcy court the company shed $500 million in debt and emerged from bankruptcy the following May. Trump turned over majority control of the company to his bondholders but remained the largest single shareholder, and he once again kept control of the casinos.

Bankruptcy Is Not Synonymous With Failure

Although a corporate bankruptcy filing often indicates that a business is in a perilous financial condition, it doesnt necessarily sound the death knell for that business. The provisions of Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code allow businesses to find ways to reduce their debt and restructure their operations without having to be shut down and liquidated to satisfy debts instead of closing their doors, businesses can stay open, pay their employees, and take in revenue while developing a budget and a repayment plan for creditors .

Many of the United States largest and most prominent businesses have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection one or more times, including General Motors, Charter Communications, Delta Air Lines, Kmart, Macys, and the Texas Rangers baseball team.

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Judith And Nicolas Jacobson

Now divorced, the Jacobsons were a married couple who previously owned a chandelier business in West Palm Beach, Florida. In 2004, Trump ordered three fixtures worth $34,000 for his Mar-a-Lago resort from them, but then refused to pay in full, saying the Jacobsons’ work was shoddy, WSJ reports. They denied this claim but facing endless legal wrangling, the couple settled.

“A review of Palm Beach County court records showed no other payment disputes involving Classic Chandeliers. The shop later closed. Mr. Jacobson died in 2015,” notes the WSJ.

Trump defends his history of payment disputes as simply the expected cost of being a tough negotiator in a cutthroat business. The WSJ article, in particular, offers Trump’s camp ample space to respond. They strongly defend the tactics as hard but fair , but the paper notes that they “stood out as particularly aggressive in the industry and in the broader business world.”

Will Trump’s treatment of contractors affect whether or not you decide to vote for him?

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Lawsuits Over The January 6 Riot

Two U.S. Capitol police officers sued Trump, for allegedly inciting the riots that took over the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Eric Swalwell filed a lawsuit against Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., and two others of violating federal civil rights laws and local incitement laws after they spoke at a rally near the White House on January 6 before members of the crowd moved on to the Capitol.

Fourth Time’s A Charm: How Donald Trump Made Bankruptcy Work For Him

Trump Plaza, Atlantic City. Image via Flickr.

Here at FORBES, we’ve been tracking Donald Trump‘s wealth since the inaugural Forbes 400 rich list in 1982. Today, we value him at $2.7 billion, although he claims he’s worth far more. One question we’re often asked when talk turns to Trump’s fortune: how can a man who has been bankrupt so many times remain a multi-billionaire? How is he worth more now, post-bankruptcies? We spoke to bankruptcy lawyers and casino industry experts — some of whom have had firsthand involvement in Chapter 11 cases connected to Trump — in an attempt to explain how he has survived corporate bankruptcies and thrived in the aftermath.

1. It’s nothing personal…

First things first: Donald Trump has filed for corporate bankruptcy four times, in 1991, 1992, 2004 and 2009. All of these bankruptcies were connected to over-leveraged casino and hotel properties in Atlantic City, all of which are now operated under the banner of Trump Entertainment Resorts. He has never filed for personal bankruptcy — an important distinction when considering his ability to emerge relatively unscathed, at least financially.

“Corporations, limited partnerships, and LLCs in which he had an ownership interest or companies that had his name attached have filed for bankruptcy,” said Michael Viscount of Atlantic City law firm

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2. …it’s just business.

3. It’s better than the alternative.

4. He’s leveraged his persona.

6. He’s not the one to blame.

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Nevada Early Voting Latino Turnout Controversy

On November 8, 2016, Trump filed a lawsuit claiming early voting polling places in Clark County, Nevada, were kept open too late. These precincts had high turnout of Latino voters. Nevada state law explicitly states that polls are to stay open to accommodate eligible voters in line at closing time. Hillary Clinton campaign advisor Neera Tanden says the Trump campaign is trying to suppress Latino voter turnout. A political analyst from Nevada, Jon Ralston tweeted that the Trump lawsuit is “insane” in a state that clearly allows the polls to remains open until everyone in line has voted. Former Nevada Secretary of StateRoss Miller, posted the statute that states “voting must continue until those voters have voted”. Miller said: “If there are people in line waiting to vote at 7 pm, voting must continue until everyone votes…. We still live in America, right?”

Donald J Trump Foundation

The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a U.S.-based private foundation established in 1988 for the initial purpose of giving away proceeds from the book Trump: The Art of the Deal by Trump and Tony Schwartz. The foundation’s funds mostly came from donors other than Trump, whose last personal contribution to the charity was in 2008. The top donors to the foundation from 2004 to 2014 were Vince and Linda McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment, who donated $5 million to the foundation after Trump appeared at WrestleMania in 2007.

Per the foundation’s tax returns, its benefactors included healthcare and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups. In 2009, for example, the foundation gave $926,750 to about 40 groups, with the biggest donations going to the Arnold Palmer Medical Center Foundation , the New York Presbyterian Hospital , the Police Athletic League , and the Clinton Foundation .

A 2018 suit by the New York State attorney general alleged that Trump had illegally used foundation funds to buy self-portraits, pay off his businesses’ legal obligations, and boost his presidential campaign. The judge ruled against the Donald J. Trump Foundation and ordered Trump to pay $2 million in damages. Trump agreed to give that money and the foundation’s remaining $1.8 million to 8 charities ranging from Army Emergency Relief to the United Negro College Fund to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and to dissolve the foundation.

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