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"Donald Trump is a legend in his own mind." I've been following Trump since before he built Trump Tower. Which opened in 1983. Interestingly the wiki page on

by larrys 14y ago

"Donald Trump is a legend in his own mind." I've been following Trump since before he built Trump Tower. Which opened in 1983. Interestingly the wiki page on Trump Tower says this: "He also renovated the Trump Tower in New York City and several other residential projects." Of course didn't renovate it. He built it from the ground up, acquiring the land and pushing through the project much to the chagrin of his father (who developed other buildings). Trump learned much from his father (and he also graduated Wharton undergrad). He spent time on job sites and learned the construction business from the ground up. I remember when Trump Tower was built. It was a big achievement for someone his age at the time (and would be now as well). And it was done in NYC with red tape, unions and all the obstacles that building in NYC brings. This is not like putting up a small structure in the suburbs by any means. While many, including you, might feel Trump is a "legend in his own mind" I respectfully disagree having watched him for many years. He's had his failures but he's come back. He's mastered the art of self promotion and I have to tell you he did this at a level nobody had ever seen before at least for real estate development. Incidentally it is known in real estate circles that wealthy people will generally pay more to live in a Trump building than "brand x". That's part of the reputation that he has among people with money to burn. It's hard to believe that he is pulling the wool over the eyes of so many people and not providing value to them. Oh, by the way as far as the casinos? Trump suffered a huge loss when he was starting out in NJ in that the man that he hand picked to run his casino business was killed in a helicopter crash prior to (or around) the opening. He was so devastated he named his 6000 seat arena after Mark. He didn't have to do that and it certainly shows the value of that person to the organization and knocked him off balance. I remember the news stories from that time. Add: Mark Etess was the executive. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etess_Arena http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etess_Arena

unreal37 14y ago
I don't think anything I said was at all unfair to him. He's had many successes and a few failures (like most people). He made a legitimate name for himself in the early days building buildings and not just selling t-shirts. I think what sets him apart from other billionaire businessmen is the amount of ego he shows while doing it. There are investors in casinos, golf courses and Manhattan residential buildings who are more successful than Trump who's name we don't know. Also Trump is a bit bombastic about certain topics such as politics, going on and on about birth certificates 4 years after the President was elected. Another person who is similar is Sir Richard Branson, who often jumps out of planes and such in order to make a grand entrance into a press conference, while having several Virgin businesses that outright fail (such as Virgin Charter, the jet timeshare, and Virgin Record Stores) that we don't hear about so much. But Richard Branson doesn't come off as egotistical so much as just a good marketer of himself and his personal brand. I actually agree with you that he is cultivating a brand for rich people, by making the non-rich people look up to him as some type of real estate God. Sure, I bet he has high standards for the multi-million dollar apartments he sells and so no one is getting crap products.

by larrys 14y ago

unreal37 14y ago

I don't think anything I said was at all unfair to him. He's had many successes and a few failures (like most people). He made a legitimate name for himself in the early days building buildings and not just selling t-shirts. I think what sets him apart from other billionaire businessmen is the amount of ego he shows while doing it. There are investors in casinos, golf courses and Manhattan residential buildings who are more successful than Trump who's name we don't know. Also Trump is a bit bombastic about certain topics such as politics, going on and on about birth certificates 4 years after the President was elected. Another person who is similar is Sir Richard Branson, who often jumps out of planes and such in order to make a grand entrance into a press conference, while having several Virgin businesses that outright fail (such as Virgin Charter, the jet timeshare, and Virgin Record Stores) that we don't hear about so much. But Richard Branson doesn't come off as egotistical so much as just a good marketer of himself and his personal brand. I actually agree with you that he is cultivating a brand for rich people, by making the non-rich people look up to him as some type of real estate God. Sure, I bet he has high standards for the multi-million dollar apartments he sells and so no one is getting crap products.