Wednesday October 18, 2017
By Alana Abramson
He fell 92 spots in a ranking of the richest people in America.
PHOTO: REUTERS
President Donald Trump’s net worth has declined by a whopping $600 million over the last year, according to a new analysis by Forbes, causing him to drop 92 spots on the magazine’s list of the richest people in America.
Forbes puts Trump’s net worth at an estimated $3.1 billion, which ranks him as the 248th wealthiest person in the United States. In 2016, Forbes estimated his net worth at $3.7 billion, down $800 million over the course of that year to make him the 156th wealthiest person in the country
Estimates of Trump’s net worth have varied over the years, with the real estate mogul insisting at times that he’s worth in excess of $10 billion, and he even sued an author who pegged his net worth far lower.
Trump became the first major-party candidate for president in decades not to publicly release his tax returns, making it difficult to measure his net worth. But Forbes compiled its estimate using financial disclosures, public property records and interviews. It reported that Trump’s real estate portfolio was the biggest source of the decline, with declining values of his Manhattan properties contributing to a loss of $400 million. He also lost $100 million in cash after spending $66 million on his presidential campaign and settling a lawsuit over Trump University. Forbes estimates that he currently has $290 million in “cash and personal assets.”
Trump’s net worth ties him with eight other people on the Forbes 400 list, including Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel and casino magnate Steve Wynn. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates again took the top spot on the list this year, with an estimated net worth of $89 billion. He was followed by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who has an estimated net worth of $81.5 billion.