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22-08-2024
NEW YORK/ TALLAHASSEE: Donald J. Trump’s golf club in Jupiter, Florida, where multi-million-dollar villas flank the greens of an 18-hole course, reflects the new geography of his family business. Long based in New York, the Trump Organization has gravitated recently to Florida’s southeast coast, where its golf and resort properties now pay the bills.
A decade ago, before Trump ran for president for the first time as a Republican in 2016, his golf courses and resorts were a drain on the company’s cash flow, which mostly came from real estate, according to a media analysis of court and tax records and other financial disclosures but today, the golf and resort business is the biggest driver of the company’s cash flow, accounting for about four-fifths of the approximately $80 million in cash after operating expenses that will be generated this year by the hundreds of companies ultimately owned by Donald Trump, known collectively as the Trump Organization. The group’s annual revenues are over $600 million, according to the Reuters estimate.
The analysis is the first detailed estimate of Trump’s projected 2024 income, as he contests November’s presidential election. It is based on financial statements and other information provided as part of court cases, regulatory filings by Trump Organization entities and their partners, US tax records and other documents.
The health of Trump’s golf business is a bright spot at a precarious moment for the Trump Organization: it faces more than $530 million of court judgments and interest against Trump, some family members who hold senior roles, and his companies; a weak commercial real estate market in New York; and the question of what happens if Trump loses a tight race for the presidency.
If enforced, the court judgments would exceed the amount of cash that Trump said he had as of this March, via a social media post: “almost five hundred million dollars.”
Media shared its detailed projections with former president Trump’s son Eric who runs the family business, and two other senior Trump Organization executives, and Trump’s campaign representatives.
“The Trump Organization is the strongest it has ever been,” Eric Trump said in a written response. “We have the best and most iconic assets anywhere in the world and I am incredibly proud of not only everything the company has accomplished, but also everything my father has accomplished in the political world.”
He did not comment directly on the financial estimates or other specifics shared by Reuters, and the others did not respond.
The news agency also interviewed more than a dozen business associates, real estate and leisure industry experts, and people familiar with Trump properties.
On paper, much of Trump’s wealth is tied up in his majority stake in Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT.O), opens new tab, owner of social media platform Truth Social. Shares of the media company have been pumped sky-high in large part by retail investors enthusiastic about Trump’s brand and his prospects in November’s election.
After surging early this year, stock has fallen by more than half, but the company, in which Trump holds a stake of more than 50% – still has a market capitalization of about $4.5 billion. As of Monday, that stake was worth about $2.5 billion
The media company, however, adds nothing to Trump’s cash flows, it is a separate company from the Trump Organization and it generated a loss of $58 million last year on revenues of just $4 million. His shares in Trump Media are locked up by a corporate agreement that expires in September. If faced with a large legal bill after that, Trump could unload those shares piecemeal selling all at once could cause the stock to tank or sell off assets like buildings. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
