In an effort to take out front runner Donald Trump before the 2016 Presidential election, Republican presidential candidates pelted Trump with criticism over his multiple trips to federal bankruptcy court.
Donald Trump, as do other major investors, owns many non-integrated companies, and some of them inevitably file for bankruptcy, explained Adam Levitin, a law professor at Georgetown University.
Further, it was explained that people typically wouldn't personally blame such men as former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney or investor Warren Buffett for the failures of individual companies within their respective investment and holding firms of Bain Capital and Berkshire Hathaway.
"The only difference is that Trump puts his name on his companies, meaning people associate each of them with him, personally, although he does not personally manage each of them. These four Chapter 11 bankruptcies out of his hundreds of companies, were no more unusual or exceptional for Trump than they would be for other men of great wealth and holdings, who literally "own," either totally or partially, hundreds of individual companies."
Trump's four bankruptcies were actually Chapter 11 reorganizations (according to federal bankruptcy code), - designed to restructure businesses in order that they may continue to operate. The purpose of Chapter 11 is to "preserve" the business, as opposed to other forms of bankruptcy which would totally liquidate the company, according to Michael Venditto, a partner at the ReedSmith law firm extensively experienced with Chapter 11.
Finance experts confirm that Trump is correct in his statement that Chapter 11 reorganization is NOT bad business practice, but rather a legally provided method of saving both the business, and the rights of, and future repayment to the creditors.
Bankruptcy 1: The Trump Taj Mahal, 1991
This was the the first bankruptcy associated with Trump, according to news reports at the time. He funded the construction of the $1 billion Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, which opened in 1990. In 1991, the decision was made to file for Chapter 11 reorganization, preserving the business and its creditors rights, according to the New York Times.
Bankruptcy 2: Trump Plaza Hotel, 1992
Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel in New York for $390 million in 1988. As a result of the bankruptcy in 1992, in exchange for terms on which to pay off the debts, Trump transferred a 49 percent stake in the Plaza to a total of six lenders, according to ABC News. Trump remained the hotel's CEO of record, -- he didn't receive a salary, and had no involvement in the hotel's day-to-day operations, according to the New York Times.
Bankruptcy Number 3: Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts, 2004
Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts, including the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Marina and Trump Plaza casinos in Atlantic City and a riverboat casino in Indiana, filed for bankruptcy in 2004. Trump reduced his share in the company from 47 to 27 percent in a restructuring plan, remaining the company's largest single shareholder and in legal charge of its operations. Trump informed the Associated Press at the time that this particular company represented less than 1 percent of his net worth.
Bankruptcy Number 4: Trump Entertainment Resorts, 2008
Trump Entertainment Resorts -- formerly Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts - was hit hard by the 2008 economic recession. In December 2008, according to ABC News, after discussion 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. The company continued to use Trump's name in licensing as it continued to operate, repaying creditors through Chapter 11.
Out of the five hundred individual companies in which Trump has financial investment or holdings, only four Trump companies have filed for Chapter 11 reorganization.Whenever Chapter 11 reorganization is necessary, filing for bankruptcy is a "sound business decision" if a company is facing serious financial problems, being far preferable to the business shutting down completely, which actually would eliminate the possibility of any future repayment to the creditors of record, rather than extending the length of time required for their repayment.
Although the source of the financial problems varies from case to case, it is often the result of circumstances beyond the control of the business.
The gaming industry had been struggling during the years involved, and three out of four of Trump's bankruptcies were tied to casinos.
It is accurate that Trump filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy four times for four specific companies; placed in context, however, these companies had individual managers, and were not under Trump's individual control - at a time that the entire casino industry was struggling, and many casinos, other than Trump's enterprises, failed.
Although much is written claiming that Trump "stiffed" his bankers, that is UNTRUE - because these bankruptcies were filed as Chapter 11, which is legal protection from creditors WHILE reorganizing in order to continue operating, and eventually repay creditors, and were NOT Chapter 7 liquidation.
Again, these were NOT businesses personally overseen by Donald Trump, but were a very small part of his total business holdings, each with their own managers and staff. By choosing Chapter 11, rather than Chapter 7 in each of the four incidents, Trump relinquished a significant part of his own personal financial holdings in these businesses, rather than allowing the creditors to lose theirs.
Trump has been an inspiration to businesses that have or are currently struggling with debt as a result of past economic recession. His past Chapter 11 bankruptcies show that even when a business struggles with debt, after renegotiating with creditors, it can still become a success through reorganization.
Nickolai wrote:
By Brad Reed /Raw Story
Trump biographer Timothy O’Brien has written a new column for Bloomberg outlining how President Donald Trump’s time in the Oval Office is playing out much like his business career — but he warns that shouldn’t be seen as a positive.
O’Brien notes that Trump has succeeded in his life largely by using hyperbole and flat-out fabrications to fool others into seeing him as more wealthy and powerful than he really is. However, O’Brien warns that this sort of con eventually catches up with him, as it did when he bankrupted some of his own casinos.
“Trump’s love of the con — borrowing billions he couldn’t repay so he could invest in splashy properties and projects he didn’t understand — drew national attention and blanket media coverage just before the game unraveled in serial bankruptcies in the early 1990s,” he writes. “After that debacle, Trump refashioned himself as a ubiquitous media curiosity, one who held center stage in part by being the one famous guy who could reliably be called upon to chat about sex, women and even his own genitals.” The trouble, however, is that Trump is no longer merely in charge of hotels and casinos — rather, he’s in charge of the most powerful military on the planet. This, fears O’Brien, could make the unraveling of his con of American voters far more dangerous than anything that’s happened in the past.
“That con now has global consequences,” he writes. “Trump doesn’t fulminate about North Korea or building a wall on the Mexican border because he’s a policy maven with deeply held principles. It’s because he knows that toying around with sensitive and sometimes dangerous subjects gets the media’s attention and keeps certain blocs of voters interested in him.”
By Brad Reed /Raw Story br br Trump biographer Ti... (
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