Trump: How to Get Rich

If I hadn’t signed a prenup, I would be writing this book from the perspective of somebody who lost big. We needed a bus to get Ivana’s lawyers to court. It was a disaster, but I had a solid prenup, and it held up.

A friend of mine is married to a woman who stands only five-foot-two, but he’s petrified of what she will do to him in court, all because he didn’t get a prenup. Before he met this woman, he’d had four unsuccessful marriages, yet he told me, Donald, I’m so in love with this woman that I don’t need a prenuptial agreement. I didn’t have the courage to tell him what I was thinking to myself: Loser!

A year later, the marriage was over and he was going through hell. When I saw him, he looked like a frightened puppy.

There’s nothing wrong with common sense. Be like Thoreau and simplify.

Cut Out the Middleman

Wayne Newton is a great friend of mine, and he made a lot of money over the years. Unfortunately, given terrible advice, he lost his money and was forced to declare bankruptcy. Meanwhile, his lawyers were eating him alive.

He called me and said, Donald, I heard you owed $9.2 billion to a hundred banks in the early nineties and you never went bankrupt. How did you do it? Because I just can’t seem to get out of this mess. My lawyers are making a fortune and the banks are impossible.

I asked Wayne how many banks were involved. He told me it was three. You’re lucky, I said. I had ninety-nine banks and I made a point of becoming best friends with everybody at every bank. You have to do the same.

I gave him some more advice, which he has generously acknowledged in many interviews. I told him, Wayne, you are a major celebrity. Have your secretary call the three banks and get the person who is really in charge, not the figurehead, and personally talk to all three people. Arrange a meeting with them, ideally a dinner with them and their families. Get to know them. At the end of this period of time, they’ll like you. They’ll be impressed by you because you are a celebrity. They may control a lot of money, but they don’t control fame, and people are impressed by fame. Forget your lawyers. They are never going to want to settle the case, because then their legal fees stop. You must do it yourself. Call the bankers. Become friendly with the bankers. And make a deal.

Wayne called me three weeks later. He’d had dinner with all three bankers and said they were among the nicest people he’d ever met. They brought their wives and children. Later, he cut deals with every one of them. The banks were taken care of over a period of time, the lawyers didn’t get any richer, and today Wayne is doing fantastically well.

You’re probably wondering how this rule applies to your life if you are not headlining a major Las Vegas show. Here’s how: Wayne took control of the situation. He appealed to the people in charge. Most of us need lawyers at some point in our lives, and we all have to deal with large bureaucracies. But sometimes you need to go right to the top, and you need to do it yourself. You don’t have to sing Danke Schoen to make a sincere personal approach.

Of course, there will be times when lawyers are essential. Some people are scoundrels.[1] In those instances, sue the bastards. But whenever possible, settle. It saves a lot of time for everyone involved.

Teach Your Children the Value of a Dollar

My kids know the value of money from example. They see how hard I work. I don’t talk about it with them because I don’t have to—they have eyes.

They see the way I live. I turn off the lights whenever I leave the office. I’m always happy to get a good deal, whether I’m buying a building or buying supplies at Duane Reade. (Trust me: You can get a good deal on shaving cream there.)

I always remember the example my parents set for me. I could see their determination and discipline. They didn’t have to harp on it. I try to be the way they were.

With my mother at New York Military Academy.

My parents were frugal in the sense that they knew it wasn’t easy to make money, and that it should be treated with respect. They lived well but simply, and were not flamboyant in their spending. We rarely went out to eat. We took relatively few elaborate vacations.

With my father, Fred Trump, in the early days.

They emphasized schooling and education. We had a solid family life, and I remember feeling very fortunate. Each of us was expected to contribute something not only to the family as a whole, but to society. That is a Trump family value that is ingrained in me, and one I’ve tried to live up to.