Trump campaign sets his personal fortune at $10B
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump filed financial documents with federal campaign regulators Wednesday and set his personal fortune at more than $10 billion with an annual income of more than $362 million.
Members of his staff had said that Trump would release the financial documents themselves, but they issued only a press release that announced the filing and included a few financial details. It provided little information about how he calculated his net worth.
The $10 billion figure – up nearly 15 percent since the previous year, by Trump’s calculation – would make him the wealthiest person ever to run for president, far surpassing previous magnates such as Ross Perot, business heirs such as Steve Forbes or private-equity investors such as Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee.
Among the sources of Trump’s income has been $214 million in payments from NBC related to 14 seasons of the business reality television show “The Apprentice.” NBC recently cut its ties with Trump after his controversial remarks about Mexican immigrants.
Trump is relying almost exclusively on his personal wealth to fund his White House bid. He already has lent his campaign $1.8 million, according to federal documents he filed Wednesday. His fortune could help maintain his status as a major player in the Republican presidential primary, much to the dismay of GOP officials who worry that his hard-line immigration statements could alienate Hispanic voters.
Filing a personal financial disclosure with the Federal Election Commission is one of the requirements, set by the hosts, to participate in next month’s televised GOP debate.
Trump’s statement Wednesday noted that a hypothetical Trump building worth $1.5 billion would be reported as simply worth in excess of $50 million on the federal forms, which offer broad ranges for asset values.
Previous reviews of Trump’s real estate holdings by both Forbes Magazine and commercial real-estate trade publication The Real Deal did not identify any single property with a valuation in excess of $1 billion.
Trump valued his personal brand and marketing deals at $3.3 billion when he announced his candidacy.
Forbes Magazine, however, valued his brand at just $125 million.