Throughout the years there have been many successful entrepreneurs living and operating their businesses in America. Many of these men and women have had over night success or have not had to face problems that jeopardized or endangered their wealth. One man who has had to work hard and overcome many obstacles is Donald John Trump. There have been many times when Trump has faced bankruptcy and failure but because of his hard working nature and eagerness to succeed he has overcome all hurdles.
This paper will further discuss and elaborate on the background and early years of Donald Trump, his accomplishments and how he overcame obstacles, and how Trump fits into the typical stereotype of an entrepreneur. Born on June 14, 1946, in Queens New York, Donald John Trump was the fourth of five children of Frederick and Mary MacLeod Trump. Donalds father Fred was a builder and real estate developer who specialized in building middle class homes in Queens, Staten Island, and Brooklyn for GIs returning from World War II. The Trump family was very wealthy but despite their money, Fred Trump demanded his childrens success in school. Donalds parents were always teaching them the value of money.
Even though they did not have to, all of the children worked. The girls worked in banks and the boys worked with their father on various construction sites. Donald was not the best student and was a handful for teachers. At the age of thirteen, Donald was not meeting his parents expectations so he was sent away to military school. He did Latini 2 well at the military academy, both socially and academically. Trump had become a star baseball player while in school and had also become a student leader for his graduating class.
In 1964 Donald graduated from military school and was offered a chance to try out for a major league farm team. Remembering his fathers views on education, he chose school over baseball. He entered Fordham University and then transferred to the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania from which he graduated in 1968 with a degree in economics. Donald Trump is one of the most respected and most accomplished entrepreneurs in American history.
Trump knew that he did not want to work with his father, he wanted to build his own empire. His formula for success was to buy when the property and owner is in distress, then turn the place around. In 1974 Trump took those words literally and started to talk to the bankrupt Pen Central railroad about the Comador hotel above Grand Central Station. At the age of 28 Donald was pushing a concept that seemed impossible. Using a combination of family money, $45 million in loans and a tax break to finance his first deal, he purchased the hotel.
There was a problem with the Comador project but it was not money trouble, it was the condition of the building. The rooms were small, it was old and it had poor ventilation. Trump had a vision and would not let the condition of the building stop him. He hired contractors and said to them tell me how it can be done, not it cant be done.In 1981 Donald purchased an office building as an umbrella company for his deals. That same year he bought a residential building worth $125 million and named it the Trump Plaza. Trumps empire expanded at a great pace.
In the 1980’s his net worth leaped from the millions to the billions and he was one of the most successful men in the world. Not all of Trumps purchases were successful. He did have ventures that fell apart. In the early 80’s Donald purchased Eastern Airline, and renamed it Trump Air Lines. Also in the Latini 3 early 80’s he bought a football team in an independent league, and at the same time Donald started a game show called Trump Card.
All of these ventures were unsuccessful but they were only minor set backs for the business tycoon. In 1987 Trump purchased the Taj Mahal hotel and casino in Atlantic City. It was a very risky move because there was $500 million invested and far from finished. It looked like the Taj Mahal was going to bring down Trump, but as he always did he found a way to save it and it is now one of his biggest profit makers.
Donald was in his prime and was one of the wealthiest men in the world. Just as everything looked good for the billionaire, the real estate market crashed. With the market the way it was it was impossible for Trump to make money. In 1990 his financial troubles exploded. He was unable to pay the $75 million worth of interest payments on the loans, including payments on bonds covering the Trump Castle Casino.
The banks demanded that he hire a new financial manager. In that same year he missed the payments to the bond holders of the Taj Mahal Casino. Killing Trump at the time was a continuing recession which bordered on a depression in the industries he had all of his money in. As Donald always did, he fought and found a way to make a come back. He sold his airline, his $30 million yacht and one of his homes. It seems that Trump will always find a way to succeed no matter what life throws at him There are many different characteristics and skills that most entrepreneurs have in common and Donald Trump is no exception.
He has many entrepreneurial characteristics and has proven that he does. He showed that he is self confident and self reliant when he decided to go into business for him self. He did not want to take over his fathers company because he felt that he had to do it on his own. He is very goal oriented. He knows what he wants and does not let anything stop him. Even when he was on the brink of bankruptcy he held in there and over came Latini 4 his problems. He is willing to take initiative in all of his ventures or else they will not succeed. One of the skills he has is opportunity identification. In all of his ventures Trump recognized the opportunity to make money and took advantage of these opportunities.
He also has the skill to negotiate. He always found a way to purchase companies and properties at the lowest possible price. Donald wears some of the thinking hats that all entrepreneurs wear. He has a yellow hat on because he is always optimistic and positive, even when he is not doing well. He also wears a green hat.
He is a creative man and is constantly changing his businesses to make money and to keep up with changing times. Trump definitely has the characteristics and skills of an entrepreneur and he proved this in this with his enormous success. Donald John Trump is without a doubt one of the most successful entrepreneurs in American history and has built one of the most valuable empires in the world today. He has overcome many obstacles that would have ruined most entrepreneurs and thrived on the challenges put before him. He followed a dream and accomplished things most people cannot even imagine and he has always done it with a smile on his face. Donald Trump has and will always be a success because of his entrepreneurial skills and talents.
Work Cited
- Leone, Peter. Donald Trump Deal Maker. A;E Biography. A;E Television Networks, 1994 Kretchman, Lily M., Lori Cranson and Bill Jennings. Entrepreneurship Creating A Venture.
- Toronto, Ontario: John Wiley ; Sons, 1991. Browde, Elizabeth. Trump Donald (John)1946″. (03,10,01) Wilber, Maureen. Donald Trump. (06,10,01)
