Any doubt that Trump has duped millions of his supporters?? So many of his supporters, think that he's a great businessman; therefore he'd make a great president. Yes, his supporters have been duped.
As its stock collapsed, Trump's firm gave him huge bonuses and paid for his jet It was promoted as the chance of a lifetime: Mom-and-pop investors could buy shares in celebrity businessman Donald Trump's first public company, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts.
Their investments were quickly depleted. The company known by Trump's initials, DJT, crumbled into a penny stock and filed for bankruptcy after less than a decade, costing shareholders millions of dollars, even as other casino companies soared.
In its short life, Trump the company greatly enriched Trump the businessman, paying to have his personal jet piloted and buying heaps of Trump-brand merchandise. Despite losing money every year under Trump's leadership, the company paid Trump handsomely, including a $5 million bonus in the year the company's stock plummeted 70 percent.
Many of those who lost money were Main Street shareholders who believed in the Trump brand, such as Sebastian Pignatello, a retired private investor in Queens. By the time of the 2004 bankruptcy, Pignatello's 150,000 shares were worth pennies on the dollar.
"He had been pillaging the company all along," said Pignatello, who joined shareholders in a lawsuit against Trump that has since been settled. "Even his business allies, they were all fair game.
He has no qualms about screwing anybody. That's what he does."
Trump's bid for the White House relies heavily on his ability to sell himself as a master businessman, a standout performer in real estate and reality TV.
But interviews with former shareholders and analysts as well as years of financial filings reveal a striking characteristic of his business record: Even when his endeavors failed and other people lost money, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee found a way to make money for himself, to market his Trump-branded products and to pay for his expensive lifestyle.
Trump was the chairman of Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts in Atlantic City from 1995 to 2009, his only outing as the head of a major public company. During that time, the company lost more than $1 billion, financial records show. He also was chief executive from 2000 to 2005, during which time share prices plunged from a high of $35 to as low as 17 cents.
Trump received more than $44 million in salary, bonuses and other compensation during his time at the company, filings show. He also benefited from tens of millions of dollars more in special deals, advisory fees and "service agreements" he negotiated with his company.
Trump's campaign did not make him available to respond to specific questions about the company, but in a recent Washington Post interview, Trump said he "made a lot of money in Atlantic City," adding, "I make great deals for myself."....
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-trump-djt-collapse-20160613-story.html
