Turning Politics Into Profits

Lots of rich people pour a fortune into their political careers. But no American has used politics to create as much personal wealth as Donald J. Trump. With throngs of people now willing to buy almost anything from him, including stock, regardless of the cost, he has turned his political fame into billions.

- DAN ALEXANDER

Donald Trump has built his entire brand around being a winner. But on January 20, 2021, he looked very much the opposite in every way possible. Defeated by voters, then impeached a second time after the Capitol riot he had fomented, Trump arrived back in Palm Beach, Florida, to an empire in distress. His commercial real estate was largely empty, his hotel business bleeding tens of millions, his licensing ventures at a standstill.

A week later, Trump welcomed Wes Moss and Andy Litinsky, former Apprentice contestants, to his private club for a business pitch. Alongside hamburgers and ice cream, the apprentices presented something that piqued the interest of the master: a Trump-branded media and technology company, complete with a social media app like Twitter, a streaming service like Disney+ and a web-hosting platform like Amazon. The most alluring part of the proposal? Trump would get 90% of the equity—and, according to someone involved in the deal, did not have to invest a thing upfront.

So began a four-year transformation that turned America’s most famous real estate billionaire into the first Ameri­can ever to create billions from his politics. Other rich people have run for office, and many, many politicians—including every living ex-president—have leveraged fame and contacts into post-career riches. But no one has cashed in the way, or on the scale, that Trump has.