Trump Not Getting Rich as POTUS, Sees Staggering Drop on Forbes Richest List
President Donald Trump dropped over 200 spots on Forbes Billionaires List from his position last year.
Trump currently comes in at No. 766 for Forbes’ 2018 ranking with a net worth of $3.1 billion versus 2017 when he was No. 544 with $3.5 billion on his ledger. A record 2,208 names appeared on the list.
This year’s drop for Trump follows another one of over 200 spots in 2017.
Trump announced his candidacy for president in June 2015 and devoted much of his time and energy to winning the race.
Additionally, he stepped down as the Trump Organization’s CEO in January 2017, turning over the reins to his sons Donald Jr. and Eric.
Further, to address the issue of the appearance of conflicts of interest, the then-president elect’s attorney announced during this time period that the Trump organization would undertake no new foreign deals while he was in office, which effectively shut down one revenue stream.
Forbes reported about half of Trump’s net worth — $1.5 billion — is in New York City real estate. The next largest share — $560 million — is invested in his golf clubs and resorts.
According to Forbes, the president’s decline in net worth can be mostly attributed to a softening real estate market in the Big Apple.
“The rise of e-commerce has pushed down the value of properties like Trump Tower, which sits in the heart of shopping mecca Fifth Avenue in New York City,” Forbes reported. It estimated the value of the property has declined $41 million.
Additionally, longtime tenant Nike announced it is vacating approximately 65,000 square feet of retail space at Trump’s property at 6 East 57th Street.
However, on the positive side, profits have surged at other properties that Trump owns stakes in located in New York and San Francisco, and his golf courses and resorts, by-in-large, are doing well.
In his speech at the Republican Convention in July 2016, Trump’s son Eric noted his father was making a sacrifice to run for and potentially to become the president.
“So my father made the courageous decision to set aside a company to which he has dedicated his entire life, to set aside a global brand that he has made synonymous with success, with quality, with uncompromising … just the best,” Eric Trump said.
“At a time when people at the pinnacle of their career like my father would have held fast to a lifestyle that has truly become the epitome of the American dream, my father instead chose to give that dream back to the people it had eluded for so long,” he added.
Trump has pledged to take no salary from the government while serving as president. He donated his first year’s $400,000 income to various federal causes including a restoration project at Antietam National Battlefield, a summer science camp for kids, and most recently to the Department of Transportation to help rebuild the nation’s infrastructure.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who tops the 2018 Forbes list, has done very well under Trump, surpassing Microsoft founder Bill Gates to become the wealthiest man in the world, with an estimated worth of $112 billion.
Bezos became the first person ever to top the $100 billion mark.
Gates’ net worth now stands at $90 billion, followed by Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett at $84 billion, French businessman Bernard Arnault with $72 billion and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at $71 billion.
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