Trump: How to Get Rich

We’re already at work on the second season, to premiere in the fall of 2004. For those of you interested in applying and winning, here are the four essential qualities I’m looking for in an apprentice:

1. An outstanding personality.Someone who makes everyone feel comfortable. No matter what you’re doing in business—selling, buying, negotiating, analyzing, or managing—this may be the most essential trait. You’ve got to be able to connect with the people you encounter, every hour, every day.

2. Brains.Not book brains alone, but street smarts as well. That combination, properly used, is a winner.

3. Creativity.The ability to see beyond the obvious, to think unpredictably and imaginatively, to make connections others might not envision. This is perhaps the hardest quality to develop—you’ve either got it or you don’t. But you can be creative in different ways. Jeff Zucker is a creative TV executive. Derek Jeter is a creative shortstop. If they switched jobs, they might not be as creative in their various fields.

4. Loyalty and trust.Absolutely required traits. Unlike creativity and brains, any person can possess these qualities, so if you lack them, you have no one to blame but yourself.

Let’s suppose, out of the hundreds of thousands of applicants, you’re selected. Let’s suppose you actually win. You become famous for fifteen minutes (or perhaps more) and bag a $250,000-a-year job at The Trump Organization.

Then what?

I titled this bookHow to Get Rich because whenever I meet people that’s usually the first thing they want to know. From reading these pages, I hope you’ve gained a sense of what it takes, how to live your life in the way most likely to result in a vast fortune. Unless you win the lottery or have a bonanza at one of my casinos, you’re not going to get rich purely through luck. You’ll have to work for it, and I’ve tried to show you how.

My ideal goals are success with significance. That’s worth more than the money. Being paid is nice. In most cases, it is absolutely necessary, and a good scorecard for success, but it certainly isn’t the only one. I didn’t do The Apprentice for the money, even though it has been very profitable.

It feels great to be in a position to make a difference, and that’s what I mean when I say success with significance.

I hope you become rich. And I hope you use your talent to make some kind of positive change in your immediate world.

Whatever your job is, that’s your assignment.

Begin now.

You’re hired.

Acknowledgments

This book could not have been written without Meredith McIver, a writer of many talents. She served her apprenticeship with the New York City Ballet, worked on Wall Street, and for the past two years has been an executive assistant at The Trump Organization, stationed at a desk outside my office. As you know, my door is always open, so Meredith has heard everything, and she’s taken good notes. She’s done a remarkable job of helping me put my thoughts and experiences on paper. I am tremendously grateful to her.

Very little happens in my office without Norma Foerderer, who oversees my schedule and has been instrumental in keeping this book project on track in many ways, especially in the coordination of the photographs.

I want to thank my editor at Random House, Jonathan Karp, who asked me to write this book. I first met Jon in 1997, when he editedThe Art of the Comeback. He spent a lot of time in my office, and one day I noticed he was staring at the carpet under my desk. Finally, he said, Donald, what’s the deal with the space heater?

I told him that my feet get cold.

Jon said, “We’re in Trump Tower. It’s your building. Can’t you do something about that?”

It’s important to have an editor who asks the tough questions.

I’m also grateful to many others at Random House who worked long and late hours to produce this book in record time: publisher Gina Centrello; associate publishers Anthony Ziccardi and Elizabeth McGuire; executive director of publicity Carol Schneider; director of publicity Thomas Perry; associate director of publicity Elizabeth Fogarty; editorial assistants Jonathan Jao (who did an excellent job with the photos) and Casey Reivich; art director Gene Mydlowski; managing editor Benjamin Dreyer; production chief Lisa Feuer;design director Carole Lowenstein; production manager Richard Elman; production editor Janet Wygal; copy editor Ginny Carroll; advertising director Magee Finn; rights directors Claire Tisne and Rachel Bernstein; and everyone in the Random House sales force, which is the best in the business.

At The Trump Organization, I am surrounded by home-run, grand-slam people: Matthew Calamari, Allen Weisselberg, George Ross, Bernie Diamond, Jason Greenblatt, Rhona Graff, Tony Morace, Andy Weiss, Don Jr., Jeff, Eric, and many more.