Guess who’s back, back again? Trump is back, tell a friend.
Donald Trump has certainly been the recipient of a lot of bad news lately.
Back on the list
The former president is being sued by the New York State Attorney General’s office for $250 million for ‘years of financial fraud,’ involving inflated real estate appraisals for
House Select Committee Still Investigating Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol Uprising; and there’s this whole top-secret US Department of Justice document and the Georgia election interference investigation, the Westchester golf course investigation, and numerous lawsuits.
Well, we finally have some good news for the covfefe king: Trump has returned to the Forbes 400 after stepping down a year ago.
The reality TV star and real estate dealer has seen his estimated net worth rise from $2.5 billion to $3.2 billion, earning him 343rd place on Forbes Magazine’s list of America’s richest people.
Trump will return to the ranking that sees Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk in the lead, followed by Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates.
Truth Social Boost
Not bad for a guy who’s filed for bankruptcy six times and has an estimated $1.1 billion in debt.
Forbes said Truth Social, Trump’s Twitter (TWTR) wannabe, is a big factor in his return to the 400 list, noting that the Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns the Truth Social app, “is now the former president’s most valuable asset.”
Acquisition of the digital world (DWAC) a blank check company, is trying to merge with Trump’s fledgling media group.
Forbes estimated that Trump’s 73 million shares were worth $730 million, assuming a price of $10 a share for Digital World, which traded just under $17.
Digital World faces some challenges, however, as it failed to find enough shareholder support earlier this month for a one-year extension of its merger plans.
The company instead staged a three-month extension, which lasts until Dec. 10, while pushing back the voting deadline on the full one-year extension to Oct. 10.
‘Address change’
The deal with TMTG has been delayed by a series of inquiries into its dealings with Digital World ahead of the September 2021 IPO as well as questions related to its underlying finances.
Digital World also changed its listed address to a UPS store in Miami, according to CNBC.
The company said in a filing that between Sept. 19 and Sept. 23, it received termination notices from private public equity investors, or PIPE investors, representing approximately $138.5 million of the $1 billion PIPE. of dollars.
But there are other advantages. Trump sold his hotel in Washington, D.C. for $375 million, Forbes noted, allowing him to pay off a $170 million loan from Deutsche Bank and bring home about $135 million.
Trump shares his place in the Forbes hit parade with several people in a tie of eight billionaires that includes former Wynn Resorts (WYNN) CEO Steve Wynn, Video Gaming Technologies founder Jon Yarbrough; and investment banker Warren Stephens.
‘Smooth and Smooth’
In his book “The Art of the Deal”, Trump described Wynn as “sleek and smooth, but he’s also a very strange guy”.
Wynn, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, asked “How deeply disturbed is he?” When he was little, who did this to him?
The two smoothed things over when Trump moved into the White House and named Wynn finance chairman of the Republican National Committee.
However, in May, the Department of Justice – yes, again – sued Wynn to compel him to register as a foreign agent because of lobbying work he allegedly did at the request of the Chinese government under the Trump administration.
In 2018, Wynn resigned as chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts in response to allegations of sexual misconduct, citing “an avalanche of negative publicity”.
“A game of seashells? »
Also on Trump’s lot are Herb Simon, a real estate developer and owner of the Indiana Pacers; philanthropist Lynn Schusterman; Yahoo co-founder David Filo; and real estate developer Bennett Dorrance, who recently retired as a senior member of Campbell Soup Co. (pcb) edge after a hitch of 33 years.
The reaction on social media to Trump’s return to Forbes was heated. One person posted a montage of audio clips in which the former president recited the Eminem’s ‘Without Me’ lyrics.”
“Really it’s still on the list…didn’t we already determine it was a shell game…” one person tweeted.
“Lol even after seeing documents of him lying about his wealth in a lawsuit?” a poster asked Forbes. “Are your employees ignorant? »