Donald Trump Essay, Research Paper

Donald Trump, one of the great New York City business tycoons, has written several biographies that explain in detail his dealings in the business world and his personal life throughout his career. The book that I have read is titled Trump: The Art of the Comeback. In this biography Donald tells about the time in the eighties and early nineties that he was struggling financially because of the economy and the hardships that he went through to make a comeback. Each chapter tells a story about his return to the top and how he did it. This book is his account of how he engineered one of the most remarkable business comebacks in history. He has accumulated a net worth of well over three billion dollars.

One of the things that has helped Donald Trump throughout these times was his ability to make wise decisions based on his experience. I realized when reading this book that he was very talented in the area of decision making. He knew exactly when to buy or sell his assets to maximize his profits. Trump starts of by listing his top ten comeback tips. Some seem ridiculous, but apparently they work. He suggests things such as playing golf, being paranoid, going with your gut instinct, and always having a prenuptial agreement. The first chapter explains briefly his rise to the top and the rest of the book tells how he survived the low period and eventually regained his status. One of the main reasons for Donald?s downfall was the plummeting value of his vast real estate assets. He claims that his investments in Atlantic City are what eventually saved him from really going under between 1989 and 1992. Trump then bought Mar-a-lago, a gigantic mansion in Palm Beach and restored it. He vacations there and has had dozens of celebrities vacation there also. Donald Trump then acquired 40 Wall Street in 1995. The deal that he was able to make on this property was unbelievable. He paid the Kinson family one million dollars for a building that they had already previously paid for and had also sunk tens of millions into. He truly stole this property from them. The difficulty that the Kinson family was having was dealing with the German family that owned the ground lease. As soon as the Kinson family signed the papers he was on the phone working out a new 200-year ground lease with the Hinnebergs.

Between 1994 and 1994 Trump bought what is now known as Trump International along with several executives from General Electric. He had it completely demolished down to the frame and rebuilt as super luxury condominiums and hotel suites. This building would also house a fabulous restaurant at the base. This restaurant, Jean Georges, was the first new restaurant to ever receive a four star rating by the New York Times. New York has only four four star restaurants, and Trump owns one of them. Trump also owns the Miss Universe Pageant, Miss USA, and also Miss Teen USA.

Trump Tower is one of Donald?s favorite buildings. He favors it so much because it houses some of the greatest tenants that are paying very high rates, but, more importantly, these tenants are doing great financially. NIKETOWN is doing wonderful business and is one of the Trump Towers greatest successes. Trump says that, "while the casinos are bigger and throw off far more cash, it?s always been really nice to have my friend, Trump Tower, chugging along and hitting home run after home run."

One of Donald?s pet peeves is the act of hand shaking. He has a fear of germs and reserves the act of hand shaking for such people as the President, Gorbachev, and Mickey Mantle. He loves it when people introduce themselves and do a simple yet polite bow. Donald becomes especially when someone will come up and shake his hand at dinner. He always washes his hands after shaking hands and eating just as a sanitary precaution.

Trump also includes a chapter on investing. He won?t give out investing advice for one good reason. If the advice turns out bad, he is the first person to be blamed. However, if the advice earns an investor millions, he or she is quick to forget where that great advice came from. For this reason, when someone asks him when or where to invest their money, he simply replies, "Good Luck."

Trump finishes off this book with a short chapter on ingredients for success. This briefly sums up his successful strategies and ideas that have worked for him in the past.

I thought that this book was very interesting and that I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in economics. I enjoyed reading it and thought that it was well written and was packed full of stories and ideas that prompted me to continue reading. I am going to read the other two Trump books soon.