Donald Trump’s 13 Biggest Business Failures

Donald Trump has made his vast wealth a centerpiece of his presidential campaign; he says voters can trust him because of his keen business sense. There are some problems with that strategy, however: 1) He’s not quite the self-made mogul he makes himself out to be — he got a considerable head start in business thanks to his real-estate developer father. 2) His fortune may well be considerably smaller than he says it is. And 3) his business record is less sterling than he suggests. (Sad!)

Trump brags on his campaign website that his fortune is “in excess of TEN BILLION DOLLARS.” The Federal Election Commission disclosure form filed by Trump’s campaign offers a somewhat more conservative estimate of $8.7 billion, while Forbes pegs his fortune at more like $4.5 billion. If there’s one thing Trump is more sensitive about than his baby carrot fingers, it’s his net worth. He’s repeatedly threatened to sue individuals who speculate he’s exaggerating about his riches, and he once even made good on such a threat, suing the author of the 2005 book TrumpNation for estimating that his empire was worth as little as $150 million. (That lawsuit was thrown out.) Forbes editors also say Trump regularly lobbies them to increase the magazine’s estimates of his wealth.

Trump may “guarantee there’s no problem,” but we’ll likely never know just how big his fortune really is — he has refused to release his tax returns, despite calls to do so from both inside and outside his party. One reason he may be reluctant to put his tax returns out there is that he doesn’t actually own a significant portion of his empire, a fact he has tried to obscure through language in some of his licensing agreements. Most Trump-branded projects and products are built and sold by third parties, and Trump only makes a relative sliver of money off them by licensing his name. By Trump’s measure, his name is his most valuable asset. (Per Forbes, “Trump claims that his brand and brand-related deals are worth some $3.3 billion. We value his brand at just $125 million.”) In practice, “Trump” has repeatedly stood for half-baked schemes, shoddy work and sketchy characters.

Here are some of Trump’s noteworthy business failures.

1. Trump Airlines
In 1988, Trump took out a $245 million loan to purchase the planes and routes of Eastern Air Shuttle. He slapped a TRUMP decal and some gold bathroom fixtures on the commuter planes that flew between New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., but customers weren’t charmed. Two years after he launched Trump Shuttle, the airline wasn’t making enough money to even cover the $1 million monthly interest payment on his loan. Trump ultimately defaulted, surrendering ownership of the airline to his creditors.

2. Trump beverages
Perhaps you’re aware of Trump Ice — “one of the purest natural spring waters bottled in the world,” according to the Trump’s website. The line of water, which is bottled by a third party, is not a failure; according to his FEC disclosure, Trump made $280,000 off it last year. But Trump’s other forays into the beverage market have been less successful. Undoubtedly intended to play on his Apprentice catchphrase, Trump Fire was trademarked in 2004, but it does not appear to have ever made it to market. Trump trademarked the name Trump Power at the same time. Both drinks were categorized as “non-alcoholic beverages containing fruit juices… namely, carbonated beverages” on their trademark applications. The only trace remaining of either are the trademark applications that were abandoned in 2006. The same goes for Trump’s American Pale Ale, the trademark for which was cancelled in 2007.