Former President Donald Trump has long been known as a real estate mogul and current President Joe Biden made his reputation as “Middle Class Joe” – here’s the reality of their finances both before and after getting elected.
Trump, 77, is the son of the late successful real estate developer Fred Trump. He took over his business in 1971 and renamed it the Trump Organization.
“The business soon became involved in variety of projects, including hotels, resorts, residential and commercial building, casinos, and golf courses. His first of many books was ‘The Art of the Deal’, published in 1987,” according to his government biography. “In 2004, he launched the reality television show ‘The Apprentice’.”
While Trump built a brand on his business acumen, in the 2003 documentary “Born Rich” his daughter Ivanka revealed how he explained that his wealth was more complicated than people might understand. From 1985 to 1994 he suffered around $1.2 billion in business losses. Per Forbes, he fell off the outlet’s 400 list from 1990 to 1995.
“I remember once my father and I were walking down Fifth Avenue and there was a homeless person sitting right outside of Trump Tower and I remember my father pointing to him and saying, ‘You know, that guy has $8 billion more than me,’ because he was in such extreme debt at that point, you know?” said Ivanka in the documentary, as quoted by The Huffington Post.
By the time he was running for president in 2015, Trump was back on the Forbes list and had an estimated net worth of $4.1 billion, according to Visual Capitalist. During his presidency, it appeared to shrink and as of 2020 his net worth it was an estimated $2.1 billion.
In his years out of office, Trump’s net worth has swelled again. As of May 2, Forbes estimated that it was $7.5 billion. Nearly $6 billion of that was attributed to Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of his Truth Social app.
“On March 26, 2024, Trump Media & Technology Group debuted on the Nasdaq exchange, climbing over 30% in its first two days of trading. This gave the company a valuation of $9.4 billion, greatly increasing Donald Trump’s net worth,” said Visual Capitalist.
However, Audacy reported that after “a hot start on Wall Street, former President Donald Trump’s social media company has lost nearly $4 billion of its value as stock prices continue to fall from their opening highs.”
In addition to Trump Media & Technology Group, Trump’s net worth is also comprised of $1.1 billion in real estate, as well as club and resort assets, cash and legal liabilities. According to CNN, Trump has also raised more than $140 million for his current presidential campaign following his conviction on 34 felony counts in Manhattan.
As for Biden, now 81, he became one of the youngest people ever elected to the United States Senate at age 29, according to his government biography.
Biden’s father was in car sales and gave his son a 1967 Corvette Stingray.
According to Forbes, the president still has the car, which is worth an estimated $100,000 today.
“Over his long career in politics, Joseph R. Biden Jr. established his everyman bona fides by citing his status as the poorest member of the Senate and referring to himself as “Middle-Class Joe.” But in the first two years after leaving office, Mr. Biden substantially improved his financial fortunes, earning more than $15 million, according to tax returns his campaign released,” said a 2019 report from The New York Times.
POLITICO reported “the bulk of it [came] from lucrative public speaking and book deals,” also citing tax returns.
During his 2020 presidential campaign Biden’s net worth was around $9 million, per a Forbes analysis of tax return data from Biden and his wife Jill, a teacher, cited by Town & Country. This year, Forbes reported that Biden is worth an estimated $10 million.
“The increase has nothing to do with family business dealings in far-flung countries. Instead, he is getting richer by doing what a lot of 80-year-old Americans are doing: sitting on real estate,” said Forbes. “The president owns two homes in Delaware that are worth an estimated $7 million combined, $1.8 million more than they were when he took office.”