The latest math on Donald Trump: $2.9 billion.
An analysis by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, based in part on a 92-page personal financial disclosure form made public last week, revealed a portfolio dominated by skyscrapers and golf courses. The celebrity presidential candidate says he’s worth more than $10 billion.
Trump has vaulted to the top of some polls in the crowded field of Republican contenders hoping to win the White House next year. His comments against illegal immigration and Senator John McCain’s status as a Vietnam War hero have attracted attention-and renewed the focus on his many and varied claims to the size of his own wealth.
The majority of Trump’s fortune is derived from real-estate holdings that include a partnership with Vornado Realty Trust in Manhattan’s 1290 Sixth Ave. and 555 California St. in San Francisco; resorts such as the Mar-a-Lago and Trump Doral resorts in Florida; and Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York, according to the Bloomberg index. Other properties include Turnberry in Scotland and Doonbeg in Ireland, both golf courses.
The Bloomberg index values the real estate based on income it currently produces. Trump’s retail spaces could fetch higher rents if vacated and leased to new tenants at prevailing rates. It doesn’t value Trump’s brand beyond accounting for cash held in accounts for his licensing deals and business partnerships. Trump’s own estimations include much higher values for his brand.
Hope Hicks, a Trump spokeswoman, declined to comment.
During a campaign rally in Iowa July 25, Trump said critics had doubted whether he would run for office because of the financial disclosure requirements.
“They said, ‘Well, he’s probably not as rich as people think.’ But then it turned out I’m much richer.” He said he’s actually worth more than $10 billion.
Last month, Trump released a summary of his net worth as of June 30, 2014, which calculated his fortune at $8.7 billion, including $3.3 billion for the value of his name.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world’s biggest fortunes. It uses a standardized approach to value the assets owned by the world’s wealthiest people.
The analysis included a review of the personal financial disclosure Trump verified, signed and filed that was made public by the Federal Election Commission. The document provides top- line information on cash, marketable securities and airplanes, offering further clarity on assets.
The federal disclosure doesn’t require Trump to list real estate that’s only for his own use, nor other personal property such as art or clothing.
The federal form requires disclosures of value ranges rather than specific sums. The government doesn’t mandate how to assess real estate. Trump valued many properties in excess of $50 million – the highest category on the form.
The Bloomberg analysis is based on purchase dates, square-footage figures, rental, occupancy and capitalization rates, operating margins, valuation ratios, leasehold arrangements and other mortgage data. The information was drawn from Trump-affiliated websites, documents filed with New York City and property consultants including Real Capital Analytics Inc., CBRE Group Inc., DTZ Holdings Plc., Faith Hope Consolo at Douglas Elliman Real Estate and Larry Hirsh at Golf Property Analysts.
There may be additional assets that the analysis doesn’t include. The federal disclosure lists 11 entities without values or incomes, and those aren’t included in the calculation. Also, Trump’s disclosed revenue range of $32 million to $55 million from royalties, television, management fees, model commissions, restaurants and beauty pageants is accounted for as cash.
The following is a list of Trump’s assets, as valued by the Bloomberg index:
• The 30 percent stake in the two office buildings that are majority-owned by Vornado is valued at a combined $640 million net of debt.
• Trump’s golf and resort properties are valued at a combined $570 million, based on price-to-sales ratios for similar properties. Trump said last month that these holdings are worth $2 billion based on the June 2014 figures, without disclosing his methodology.
• A leasehold at 40 Wall St. in New York is valued at $550 million before debt. Trump purchased the lease, which expires in 2059, for $10 million in 1995, according to property records. He has the option of extending it through 2194.
• Trump Tower is valued at $490 million, before debt. That includes Trump’s 30,000 square-foot (2,787 square meter) penthouse apartment, and the building’s offices and retail spaces, including the Gucci store, which is valued at $250 million. It doesn’t include the building’s condominiums, which Trump has sold, and are accounted for as cash.
• A leasehold at New York’s 6 East 57th St., which houses Niketown, is valued at $470 million. Trump paid an annual rent of $125,000 for the building through 2008. The following year, it jumped to 6 percent of the property’s fair market value, leaving room for Trump to negotiate his rent, said Charles McDowell, owner of London-based Charles McDowell Property Consultants.
• Trump has also developed several condominium buildings in Manhattan, and still owns some unsold storage space in the basements of these buildings. He owns unsold condominiums, including full-floor units at 502 Park Ave. that are valued at $200 million. One of those apartments sold for $21 million this month.
• About $300 million in cash, securities and aircraft, based on the maximum value for each account and security provided in the federal disclosure.
The index subtracts $350 million in liabilities, mostly mortgages on marquee properties such as Trump Tower, 40 Wall St. and Trump Doral.
(With assistance from Patrick Clarkand Lauren Streibin New York and Ben Brody in Washington.)