Hillary Clinton recently mocked Donald Trump’s business failings in a speech and stressed to the public how disastrous he would be for our nation’s economy if he were to become President.
“He’s written a lot of books about business. They all seem to end at Chapter 11,” Clinton said.
Here they are one by one.
Bankruptcy No. 1: The Trump Taj Mahal, 1991
Trump funded the construction of the $1 billion Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, N.J., which opened in 1990. A year later, the casino was nearly $3 billion in debt, while Trump had accumulated nearly $900 million in personal liabilities. It was at that time Trump decided to file for Chapter 11 reorganization, according to the New York Times. Trump surrendered half his personal stake in the casino and sold his yacht and airline.
Bankruptcy No. 2: Trump Castle, 1992
Within a year of his first Chapter 11 filing, Trump found himself in bankruptcy court again for Trump Castle, which opened in 1985. In March 1992, the Castle filed a prepackaged bankruptcy plan, and Trump gave up his 50 percent share in the casino for lower interest rates on $338 million worth of bonds.
Bankruptcy No. 3: Trump Plaza and Casino, 1992
The Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, which opened in 1984, declared bankruptcy at the same time as the Castle. The casino had racked up $250 million in debt by 1992, after an 80 percent decline in cash flow. Trump Plaza filed for bankruptcy that spring as well.
Bankruptcy No. 4: Plaza Hotel, 1992
That same year, Trump filed bankruptcy on another Plaza in New York. Trump purchased the Plaza Hotel in Midtown Manhattan for $390 million in 1988, but it accumulated more than $550 million in debt by 1992. In December 1992, Trump forfeited a 49 percent stake in the Plaza to a total of six lenders. Trump remained the hotel’s CEO, but did not earn a salary and had no say in the hotel’s day-to-day operations, according to the New York Times.
Bankruptcy No. 5: Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts, 2004
Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts filed for bankruptcy again in 2004 when his casinos, including the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Marina and Trump Plaza casinos in Atlantic City, and a riverboat casino in Indiana, had accrued an estimated $1.8 billion in debt. Trump agreed to reduce his share in the company from 47 percent to 27 percent in a restructuring plan, but he was still the company’s largest single shareholder and remained in charge of its operations.
Bankruptcy No. 6: Trump Entertainment Resorts, 2009
Trump Entertainment Resorts (formerly Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts) was hit hard by the 2008 economic recession and missed a $53.1 million bond interest payment in December 2008, according to ABC News. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2009. After debating with the company’s board of directors, Trump resigned as the company’s chairman and had his corporate stake in the company reduced to 10 percent.
Trump has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, four times within two years in the 1990s, once more in 2004 and once more in 2009. But experts agree Trump should not bear all of the responsibility, as Clinton’s speech suggests, as the majority of bankruptcies happened as the overall casino industry struggled.
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