May 18, 2009 03:14 PM
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New York, 11:38 PM
Wed Mar 17
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Is Donald Trump really a billionaire or is it all smoke and mirrors? Details about Trump's true net worth are emerging in a New Jersey courtroom as Trump goes head to head with Tim O'Brien, the author of 2005's TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald. In his book, O'Brien had the nerve to suggest the real estate mogul was only worth between $150 and $250 million; Trump, enraged by the estimate, fired back with a $5 billion defamation lawsuit. At the time, Trump explained that the size of the suit was based on what he was actually worth, although as depositions in the case now show, Trump wasn't exactly sitting in front of an Excel spreadsheet as he tallied up his assets. (At one point, he said that he relied on "mental calculations" to come up with his figure.)
The truth may be somewhere in the middle. In 2005, Deutsche Bank, which was in the process of providing Trump with a loan at the time, came to the conclusion he was worth $788 million. But that was before the economy turned south and he ran into a whirlwhind of trouble at his Atlantic City casinos, 92-story hotel in Chicago, and condo development in Mexico. (And that doesn't even include some of this other, more modest defeats, such as that catering hall in Jones Beach and his tennis club about Grand Central.)
But whatever he's worth these days, it clearly wasn't enough to save his glossy magazine today: Trump Magazine, it appears, is no more. But just like bankruptcy, it's a path he's been down before: Trump Style and Trump World suffered the same fate in recent years. Too bad the season finale of Celebrity Apprentice turned in pretty decent ratings, Otherwise, he'd have absolutely nothing positive to talk about and might actually forced to keep quiet for a few weeks.
Trump on Trump [WSJ]
Trump Magazine Folds; American Dream Dies [Gawker]
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