In a departure from his real estate acquisitions, Mr. Trump and the NBC Television Network were partners in the ownership and broadcast rights for the three largest beauty competitions in the world: the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA pageants. Mr. Trump recently purchased the NBC portion and then sold the entire company to IMG. Trump Model Management, which was founded in 1999, has become one of the leading modeling agencies in New York City.
Mr. Trump rebuilt the Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park. This project was particularly special to Mr. Trump. The city had been trying for seven years to rebuild and restore the rink, whereupon Mr. Trump interceded and restored the rink in four months at only $1.8 million of the city’s $20 million cost. Similarly, he rebuilt Lasker Rink in Harlem, also located in Central Park, which has had great success as well. In addition, Mr. Trump is given credit for having made a major and very favorable impact on the economy of the city by creating the condominium boom, versus the co-ops that were more prevalent in the past.
An accomplished author, Mr. Trump’s 1987 autobiography, The Art of the Deal, became one of the most successful business bestsellers of all time, having sold in excess of four million copies, and being a New York Times number one bestseller for many weeks. The sequel, Surviving at the Top, was on the New York Times bestseller list and was also a number one bestseller, as was his third book, The Art of the Comeback. Mr. Trump’s fourth book, The America We Deserve, was a departure from his past literary efforts. This book deals with issues most important to the American people today and focuses on his views regarding American political, economic, and social problems. His fifth book, How to Get Rich: Big Deals from the Star of The Apprentice, became an immediate bestseller on all lists, as did Trump: The Way to the Top and Trump: Think Like a Billionaire, which was released in October 2004. Trump: The Best Golf Advice I Ever Received was published in April 2005, followed by Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received in 2006. He has also teamed up with Robert Kiyosaki to make publishing history with their book Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men, One Message, which in October of 2006 made the #1 spot on the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Amazon bestseller lists. Trump 101: The Way to Success debuted in late 2006. In October of 2007 Mr. Trump’s book with Bill Zanker, Think Big, was launched. In early 2008, Mr. Trump’s Never Give Up was released, followed by Think Like a Champion in April of 2009. Midas Touch, another collaboration with Robert Kiyosaki, was released in October of 2011. Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again was released in early December of 2011, becoming a bestseller.
A native of New York City, Mr. Trump is a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance, and in 1984, he won the Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Wharton School. Involved in numerous civic and charitable organizations, he is a member of the Board of Directors for the Police Athletic League. Mr. Trump also serves as Chairman of the Donald J. Trump Foundation as well as Co-Chairman of the New York Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Fund. In 1995, he served as the Grand Marshal of the largest parade ever held in New York, the Nation’s Parade, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. In 2002, Mr. Trump received an honor from the USO for his efforts on behalf of the US Armed Forces. He also hosts the annual Red Cross Ball at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach. In January of 2012, he received the American Cancer Society Lifetime Achievement Award. In April of 2015, Mr. Trump received the Commandant’s Leadership Award from the Marine Corps–Law Enforcement Foundation, given to him by General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Mr. Trump is a founding member of both the Committee to Complete Construction of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and The Wharton School Real Estate Center. Mr. Trump was also a committee member of the Celebration of Nations commemorating the 50th anniversary of the United Nations and UNICEF. He was also designated “The Developer of the Year” by the Construction Management Association of America and Master Builder by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreational & Historic Preservation. In June 2000, Mr. Trump received his greatest honor of all, the Hotel and Real Estate Visionary of the Century, given by the UJA Federation, and in 2003 was named to the Benefactors Board of Directors by the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. In 2007, he was awarded the “Green Space” Award by the friends of Westchester County Parks, as he donated 436 acres of land in Westchester, New York, to create the Donald J. Trump State Park.
By January of 2004, Mr. Trump had joined forces with Mark Burnett Productions and NBC to produce and star in the television reality show The Apprentice. This quickly became the number one show on television, making ratings history and receiving rave reviews. The first season finale had the highest ratings on television that year after the Superbowl, with 28 million people watching. Few shows have garnered the worldwide attention that The Apprentice has achieved, including three Emmy nominations. In 2007, a New York Times article quoted NBC’s president, Ben Silverman, as saying The Apprentice “has been the most successful reality series ever on NBC.” The Celebrity Apprentice has met with great success as well, being one of the highest-rated shows on television. The Apprentice series ran for a landmark 14 seasons. In 2005, Mr. Trump hosted Saturday Night Live, which resulted in one of their highest ratings of the year. Moreover, he is producing additional network and cable television programming via his Los Angeles–based production company, Trump Productions LLC. His radio program with Clear Channel Radio, parent company of Premiere Radio Networks, beginning in the summer of 2004, was a wonderful success.
In the August 21–28, 2006, issue of BusinessWeek magazine, Mr. Trump was voted, by its readers, as “the world’s most competitive businessperson” and voted by the staff and writers of BusinessWeek as one of the Top 10 most competitive businesspeople in the world. The ongoing business success of the Trump Organization was recognized by the Crain’s New York Business List 2012, with a ranking of Number 1 for the largest privately held company in New York. Also renowned for his celebrity status, Forbes ranked Mr. Trump as one of the top celebrities in the world. Mr. Trump is one of only two people (the other being Hillary Clinton) named to ABC’s Barbara Walters special The Most Fascinating People two times, most recently on her 2011 show.
Mr. Trump is one of the highest-paid speakers in the world, often drawing tens of thousands of people. In September of 2011, Mr. Trump gave a two-city speech in Australia, for more than $5 million and has been paid tens of millions of dollars for speeches made over his career. In October of 2012, Mr. Trump spoke in London at the National Achievers Congress. In January of 2007, Mr. Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2008, “You’re fired!” was listed as the #3 greatest TV catchphrase of all time, led only by “Here’s Johnnny” and “One small step for man…” In March of 2013, Mr. Trump was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in front of 25,000 fans at Madison Square Garden. The reasons for this great honor were that he held two of the most successful WrestleMania events ever—but of even greater importance, he and Vince McMahon were involved in the WrestleMania 23 “Battle of the Billionaires” in 2007 in Detroit Stadium, which to this day is the highest-rated show and the highest dollar amount on pay-per-view in the history of wrestling. In April of 2013, the New York Observer named Mr. Trump as #1 in its Power 100 Readers Poll. Also in April of 2013, Mr. Trump spoke at the annual Lincoln dinner in Michigan, which was the largest Lincoln dinner in their 124-year history and the largest Lincoln event in our country’s history where a US president was not the speaker. In 2013, Mr. Trump received the T. Boone Pickens Award from The American Spectator at the Robert L. Bartley Gala. The highly respected writer Joe Queenan, after hearing Mr. Trump speak at a Learning Annex event in 2006, wrote that the $30 million he was paid for his appearances may have been an underpayment.