Donald Trump came one appellate court ruling away from losing control of his empire. While some counted him out, his supporters hung on, supplying the votes—and crypto—he needed to save his skin and double his fortune.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Today on Forbes, here's how much Donald Trump is worth.
00:05What's Donald Trump really worth?
00:08Everyone has an opinion, but Forbes has the answer.
00:12$5.1 billion, according to our most recent tally, updated in March.
00:18It's been quite a year for Donald Trump.
00:20Twelve months ago, his political prospects were shaky, his financial future nightmarish.
00:25He had an estimated $413 million of cash on his balance sheet
00:29and a $454 million fraud judgment against him in New York State.
00:34Trump did what he does best.
00:36He fought, he sold, he won.
00:39The result?
00:41America's 47th president has more than doubled his estimated fortune,
00:45from $2.3 billion to $5.1 billion.
00:50It's quite a comeback for the former, and now current, president.
00:53How did he do it?
00:55By taking advantage of his diehard following.
00:58First, Trump sold shares of his money-losing social media platform,
01:02leaving him with a stake worth about as much as all his real estate combined.
01:06Then, he pushed his crypto offerings, which added hundreds of millions in liquidity.
01:12Trump learned long ago that delays can be as valuable as victories.
01:16Admitting he could not afford to pay off the $454 million in cash,
01:20Trump's legal team suggested an appeals court waive or reduce the bond amount.
01:25Courts don't always grant such grace, but they did in this case,
01:28dropping the requirement to $175 million and staving off an asset seizure.
01:35Then Trump showed why he is the greatest salesman in American history.
01:39The day after the courts extended a lifeline,
01:41he took his social media venture, Truth Social's parent company, public.
01:46It's not much of a business — a few million in revenue, tens of millions in losses.
01:50But that didn't matter to Trump-loving investors,
01:53who bid up shares to unconscionable heights,
01:55gambling on the absurdity of it all and adding billions to Trump's fortune in the process.
02:01The mania faded, with the stock 72% off its high, but it never disappeared,
02:06leaving Trump with a $2.6 billion stake as of March 7th,
02:11the day Forbes locked in prices for its annual billionaire's ranking,
02:15which comes out today, Tuesday, April 1st.
02:18That boosted his net worth, but with Trump hanging onto his shares,
02:22it offered no liquidity.
02:24So he got to work hawking a bazaar of other items —
02:27Bibles, sneakers, guitars — chipping away at the problem,
02:31until he solved it by selling the most absurd product imaginable —
02:35Trumpified crypto.
02:38He started in October with a project named World Liberty Financial
02:41that targeted crypto newbies with tokens that cannot be resold
02:45and vague promises of a, quote, financial revolution.
02:49He's listed as chief crypto advocate,
02:51while sons Eric, Don Jr. and NYU freshman Barron are marked down as Web3 ambassadors.
02:57Barely anyone took notice until Trump won the presidential election a few weeks later.
03:02Then, spurred by a whiff of deregulation and $75 million of purchases
03:06from crypto hypester Justin Sun, others piled in,
03:10ultimately sending an estimated $390 million, or roughly $245 million after tax, to Trump.
03:18Days before his inauguration, the president-elect unveiled Dollar Sign Trump,
03:23a digital token that did not even pretend to be an investment,
03:26but offered gamblers another game to play.
03:29Plenty did, generating an estimated $350 million in trading fees
03:33and dollar-tied crypto for entities connected to him.
03:37Trump's exact take is murky.
03:39He has a partner in the project, an entity reportedly connected to Bill Zanker,
03:43an old friend who co-authored the 2007 book Trump, Think Big and Kick Ass.
03:48But it's safe to assume the president walked away with at least $110 million after tax.
03:55Trump still owes that fraud judgment, and while he appeals, interest accrues,
03:59pushing the total to about $500 million.
04:03New York State Attorney General Letitia James probably doesn't want 40 Wall Street anymore.
04:08It's deeply underwater, thanks to cratering values for office towers
04:12and a big loan against the property.
04:14But it's hard to imagine that Trump,
04:16suddenly flushed with nearly $800 million of estimated liquidity
04:20thanks to the sale of his tokens,
04:22is too worried about the building or the attorney general.
04:25He's a crypto king now.
04:27However, even without that, he's still a billionaire.
04:30His real estate investments portfolio alone,
04:32and his golf clubs and resorts portfolio, are each worth $1.1 billion.
04:38For full coverage and to see a full breakdown of what Donald Trump owns
04:42and what it's all worth, as well as the entire
04:442025 Forbes World's Billionaires list,
04:47check out Dan Alexander's piece on Forbes.com.
04:52This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.
04:54Thanks for tuning in.