If there’s one thing many people know about former President and current Republican nominee Donald Trump, it’s that he’s, in his own words, “really, really rich.”
The exact parameters of his wealth have been hotly debated—and his actual worth has yo-yoed wildly over the course of his professional career.
Between the 78-year-old’s inheritance, his major real estate investments, his TV licensing deals, his mountain of lawsuits and settlements, and of course his tenure as president, analysts have pored over Trump’s actual wealth, which often vastly differs from what he says it is. Trump himself hasn’t helped matters, given his firm reluctance over the years to actually disclose his tax returns.
Nonetheless, he’s chugging along. He currently ranks 473rd on Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index list of the world’s 500 richest people. As of this week, Bloomberg pegged Trump’s fortune at $6.61 billion, and while Trump Media is responsible for most of that recent bump, it ultimately cites real estate as the source of the wealth.
Indeed, one of the standout avenues of Trump’s recent wealth growth is his newest venture, Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., which owns social media platform Truth Social. Trump Media’s share price has almost tripled in the past month. The company announced this week that it had launched an app for Amazon Fire TVs to access Truth Social’s Truth+ streaming platform, also available for Androids, Apple TVs and on the web.
But not every outlet agrees with Bloomberg. Per the Wall Street Journal, it hovers between $7.5 billion and $10 billion, more than double what it was when Trump was running for president the last two times. Meanwhile, Forbes, which is perhaps best known for its net worth estimates, reports that Trump is worth $6.5 billion. All this to say: the answer is Trump is a billionaire, and certainly asset rich, but the numbers are hazy and the total is in flux.
Consider Trump Media, for one. Its stock price has, this year, risen and fallen in tandem with Trump’s election odds. In recent weeks, as his chances have improved, Trump Media’s share price soared from its all-time low in September—with the expectation that it will continue to rise if he’s actually elected. (When, earlier this year, Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts, the price fell precipitously.)
Despite which publication’s estimation a voter buys, the actual dollar figure is unlikely to clearly emerge before the election. New York attorney general Letitia James has said Trump, at various points, has probably overstated his net worth by even $3.6 billion over the years.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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