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from the fortunes-declining-like-many-other-americans dept.
AlterNet reports
Donald Trump has dropped 92 places in the Forbes list of wealthiest Americans, with the magazine putting his wealth at $3.1bn, down from $3.7bn last year.
[...] Forbes ranked the first billionaire president as the 248th wealthiest person in America. The year before, he was ranked 156th.
As a candidate, Trump said his net worth was more than $10bn, but Forbes pegged that figure at $4.5bn in September 2015. By Forbes' estimates, Trump's wealth has fallen 31% in two years.
According to Forbes' story:
It was another record year for the wealthiest people in America, as the price of admission to the country's most exclusive club jumped nearly 18% to $2 billion. Even at these new heights, entrepreneurs are breaking into the ranks for the first time as they mint fortunes in everything from telecom to booze to fishing. There were 22 newcomers, 14 of whom are self-made entrepreneurs. Among the most notable: Arizona iced tea cofounder Don Vultaggio; Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings; Tito Beveridge, the creator of Tito's Handmade Vodka; Chuck Bundrant, whose Trident Seafoods sells his fish to places like McDonald's and Burger King; and Rocco Commisso, founder of cable TV and broadband firm Mediacom and owner of the New York Cosmos, a soccer club based in Brooklyn.
The most notable loser was President Donald Trump, whose fortune fell $600 million to $3.1 billion. A tough New York real estate market, particularly for retail locations; a costly lawsuit and an expensive presidential campaign all contributed to the declining fortune of the 45th president.
If you prefer, you can just go straight to the list [Edit - that requires JS from www.forbes.com and i.forbesimg.com, JS-phobes can get just the raw numbers here -- FP].
In November, some thought that having a successful businessman at the helm would cure USA's ills. I wonder if this will increase the incidence of buyer's remorse among voters.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @02:06PM (2 children)
Most businesses fail. Most successful businessman have had multiple failures.
To avoid failure, there are two options. The first is to not try. We call these people "employees", not businessmen. The second is to be lucky. We call these people "inexperienced".
My ideal candidate has had both success and failure. The importance of success should be obvious; lots of success suggests that one can organize a group to get things done. The importance of failure is that it provides empathy and a healthy fear of screwing up. I want somebody who has had to admit to friends and family that their investment can not be paid back. I want somebody who has had to lay off people that they enjoy working with. That pain teaches a lesson.
(Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Thursday October 19 2017, @05:37PM (1 child)
To avoid failure, there are two options. The first is to not try. We call these people "employees", not businessmen. The second is to be lucky. We call these people "inexperienced".
Third option: cash injection from rich Daddy.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @06:39PM
So what if Trump's dad supplied a small loan. You'd barely be able to open a decent restaurant, dentist office, or car repair shop with that.
Increasing that by a factor of about 1000 is not so easy. If you think it is, why are you not rich? Thinking smaller, starting from what middle class people may have: start with 100 thousand, get 100 million. Easy, huh? Why is it that the typical techie doesn't do that?