Forbes republishes a classic 1990 investigation into Donald Trump's finances.
fell for that ruse—taking Fred Trump off the list and listing Donald alone. But five years later, we
Using the list of properties contained in that document and updating it, we come up with properties that we think have a market value of slightly less than $3.7 billion and are encumbered by nearly $3.2 billion in debt. If our estimates are substantially correct — and we think they are generous — Donald Trump's current net worth is about $500 million. Does Trump command an impressive pile of assets? Yes. Do his assets exceed his debts by a comfortable margin? That's a different question.
To see why, consider Trump's ownership of Manhattan's Plaza Hotel property, for which he paid, according to our information, $407 million. He has since spent at least $25 million renovating it. All this money was borrowed, and certainly at not less than 10%. But we estimate the maximum current cash flow from the property as not more than $26 million a year — a cash return of 6% on his investment.
Donald Trump isn't the sort of man who stays on the defensive. As we enter his 26th-floor office in Manhattan's Trump Tower, he is already on the attack:"I'm going to show you cash flow numbers I've never shown anyone before." He waves papers that he says show cash flow last year of $159 million — as against the $140 million we figured.
The biggest hole in Trump's net worth claims probably lies on Manhattan's Upper West Side. In his sworn filing, Trump puts a value of $650 million on the 100 acres of now-vacant railroad yards he owns there. He paid $110 million for the property in 1985 and has neither developed the land nor won approval for any development plan. Wealthy Manhattan Westsiders have raised a war chest to fight him. They are against development. So the property is an idle asset.
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