Former President Donald Trump lost more than a billion dollars of his personal wealth during the four years he served in the White House,
The reported financial hit caused Trump to drop nearly 300 spots on the Forbes billionaire rankings from 1,001st to 1,299th place. Trump’s estimated worth was $3.5 billion when he took office in January 2017, and it now sits at $2.4 billion, according to Forbes.
During Trump’s time in office, he did not collect a paycheck and instead donated his quarterly salary to various groups, departments, and organizations such as the National Park Service, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
The decision caused Trump to miss out on the annual $400,000 salary that a president would typically receive. Forbes senior editor Dan Alexander explained Trump’s refusal to sell his business was another decision that contributed to the former president’s financial loss.
Trump complied with federal regulations by handing the control of his business to his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, but according to Alexander, he could have sold it, invested the funds, and collected the earnings once he left office.
“If he had sold everything on Day 1, paid the maximum capital-gains taxes on the sales, then put the proceeds into a conflict-free fund tracking the S&P 500,” Alexander explained, “Trump would have ended his presidency an estimated $1.6 billion richer than he is today.”
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According to the Forbes report, several of Trump’s properties lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the four years he was working in the White House.
Two properties in New York lost $217 million and $195 million, respectively, while a property in Miami lost $160 million. Conversely, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago gained $75 million between 2017 and 2021, per the report.
