Uh. *reads, thinks 'man this thread went down hill' bummer*
Oh, hey. according to
this Forbes article, Trump should have been on the fictitious rich asshole list, not the
real rich asshole list.
I remember during the campaign, longtime Trump biographer Wayne Barrett saying that Trump didn't want to release his tax returns, not because they'd reveal illegal activities*, but because they'd show how little money and income he really had, vis-a-vis his incredible claims.
he was "rich" in the sense of being a multi-millionaire, but not "super rich" in the sense of being on Top 400 lists. his wealth would make him a big man in Peoria or Topeka... but not in NYC, as he desperately craved.
both Barrett's book, and this article show how leveraged he was... the $100 million dollar deals he'd trumpet were financed with 90-95% debt. He'd talk about them though, as though it was mostly equity, and most of his wealth was liquid.
in reality he was only getting in on these deals at the time because his dad had close political connections with the NYC government at the time... Donald had nothing to do with cultivating them, he just used them.
*only a
complete buffoon would put illegal income/activity in a tax return... everything filed with the IRS has been laundered or papered over.
