Donald Trump’s business empire was expected to hit rock bottom on Monday. Instead, it skyrocketed making a record for his wealth.
Donald Trump has been going through one of the difficult times in his life, facing a deadline to post a bond of around $500 million in a New York fraud lawsuit. The payable amount was later slashed to $175 million. Around the same time, the former president’s social media company Trump Media & Technology Group concluded a 29-month-long merger process earning him shares worth billions of dollars.
Trump’s Net Worth Skyrockets to $6.5 Billion, Making Him One of World’s Wealthiest People
On Monday, Trump’s net worth increased by a whopping $4 billion making him join the list of the world’s wealthiest 500 people on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index for the first time. The current fortune of Trump is $6.5 billion.
Trump lost the trial earlier in February and was asked to post a bond of more than $500 million, but the court slashed the amount to $175 million on Monday after the state appealed for it. The current increase in Trump’s net worth is the result of the merger between Trump Media and Technology Group as well as the reduction in the bond.
Following the announcement, the executive vice president of the Trump Organization said in a statement “We have a great company, and we are incredibly honored (to be a part of that).”
The 77-year-old American politician has been affluent throughout his life. But recently it was found that his fortune which had previously peaked to a gigantic $3.1 billion had largely consisted of real estate properties and were inflated for billions of dollars for more than 10 years to become eligible for better terms on loans.
Since a major portion of his wealth was not liquified, it created a potential financial crisis on Monday when the judge ordered him to either pay his $454 million verdict or post a bond for 120% of the amount. Meanwhile, Letitia James, the General Attorney who filed the lawsuit against Trump, signaled that if required she would seize his assets if he didn’t comply.
Though Trump quickly agreed to pay the lowered amount, in the wake of Trump Media’s merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., his entire shares were locked up roughly for 6 months. However, the completion of the merger on Monday turned the story upside down and currently, it seems like all of his shares are included in Bloomberg’s calculation of Trump’s net worth.
According to the Bloomberg Wealth Index, Trump is currently as rich as Gordon Getty, Joe Ricketts, and Tony James. Blomberg has been reviewing the net worth of Trump since 2015.
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Trump’s social media platform Truth Social is set to begin trading on Tuesday on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticket that carries his initials. Very shortly, Trump Social’s parent company, Technology Group & Trump Media, will replace Digital World Acquisition Corp. after the completion of the merger.
By the time the parent company of Trump Social starts trading, it will have a market value of around $5.5 billion, making Trump worth at least $3 billion on paper. Bloomberg has already included that stake while calculating Trump’s current net worth which was announced on Monday.