Business career of Donald Trump

Donald Trump is an American businessman, former television personality, and the 45th President of the United States. He began his real estate career at his father's company, Elizabeth Trump and Son, which he later renamed to The Trump Organization. He rose to public prominence after a number of successful real estate deals in Manhattan and New York City, and his company now owns and develops lodging and golf courses around the world. Trump partly or completely owned several beauty pageants between 1996 and 2015. He has marketed his name to many building projects and commercial products. Trump's unsuccessful business ventures have included several casino and hotel bankruptcies, the folding of his New Jersey Generals football team, and the now-defunct Trump University.

With his election to the presidency the question arose what he would do with his business activities to avoid conflicts of interest. At a press conference on January 11, 2017, Trump said he will resign all management roles with The Trump Organization, leaving his two oldest sons Don Jr. and Eric to run it. Trump will retain his financial stake in the business.

Prior to graduating from college, Trump began his real estate career at his father's company, Elizabeth Trump and Son, which focused on middle-class rental housing in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. During his undergraduate study, one of Trump's first projects was the revitalization of the foreclosed Swifton Village apartment complex in Cincinnati, Ohio, which his father had purchased for $5.7 million in 1962. Fred and Donald Trump became involved in the project, and with a $500,000 investment, turned the 1,200-unit complex's occupancy rate from 34% to 100%. Trump has said that when he graduated from college in 1968, he was worth about $200,000 (equivalent to $1,030,000 in 2016). In 1972, the Trump Organization sold Swifton Village for $6.75 million. At age 23, he made an unsuccessful commercial foray into show business, investing $70,000 to become co-producer of the 1970 Broadway comedy Paris Is Out!

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