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From private island to private jet: What is 'billionaire' Jeffrey Epstein's net worth?Janna Herron and Kevin McCoyThis news story has been updated with information from a federal court filing disclosed on July 15, 2019Who is Jeffrey Epstein? It turns out that the descriptor most used to identify him over the past decades – billionaire – may not even apply.Epstein, who was charged with sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy by federal prosecutors and has been linked to high-powered executives, politicians, and royalty, does have at least multimillions tied up in real property.Assessing his total wealth and how he acquired it is elusive, however.The most definitive view came late on Friday, when federal prosecutors in New York said records obtained from a financial institution they did not identify showed that Epstein is worth more than $500 million and makes an estimated $10 million a year.A document posted in Epstein's federal court case docket on Monday showed that the financier self-certified his total assets at $559,120,954 as of June 30. The total included $56.5 million in cash, $14.3 million in fixed income, $112.7 million in equities and nearly $195 million in hedge funds and private equities, plus his real estate holdings.Noting the lack of any independent verification, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman said "I don't think the financial report tells me anything, really."Even the Epstein-supplied total falls short of making the college drop-out and former math and physics teacher at an elite private school in New York, a billionaire.This July 25, 2013 image provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement shows financier Jeffrey Epstein. The wealthy financier pleaded not guilty in federal court in New York on Monday, July 8, 2019, to sex trafficking charges following his arrest over the weekend. Epstein will have to remain behind bars until his bail hearing on July 15.Messages to Epstein's lawyers were not immediately returned. However, they filed a motion in Manhattan federal court Thursday that successfully sought permission to file a financial disclosure under seal for bail purposes.Here's what we know about Epstein's wealth and what remains a mystery.One of the easier ways to gauge some of Epstein’s net worth is through his real estate holdings and other possessions, which were listed in a July 8 court filing by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.A court filing from the government and a filing by Epstein’s defense team both stated he owns six properties, along with other personal property. He appears to own the holdings through several shell companies named after trees – Maple Inc., Laurel Inc. and Cypress Inc. – according to online records.Real estate9 East 71st Street, New York, New York: Epstein's Maple Inc. bought the 1930 luxury townhouse in 2011 for the nominal sum of $10, according to the deed filed with the Office of the City Register. The seller was a corporation linked to both Epstein and Leslie Wexner, the chairman and CEO of L Brands, the corporation with flagship brands Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works.Federal prosecutors estimated the value of the mansion in Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighborhood at $77 million. The New York City Department of Finance said the property’s estimated market value was $75 million in 2018-19, and then dropped it to $55.9 million for 2019-20.But the city's estimates are known to be "very haphazard," says Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel Inc., a New York appraisal firm. For a better comparison, Miller pointed to a similar Upper East Side townhouse owned by financier Philip Falcone that sold for $77.1 million in June.Epstein's place is uniquely wide at 50 feet, Miller says. "That is unusually rare and a premium for street frontage," he says.358 El Brillo Way, Palm Beach, Florida: In 2018, the Palm Beach County property appraiser estimated the market value of the five-bedroom, seven-bathroom property on 0.77 acres at nearly $12.5 million.49 Zorro Ranch Road in Stanley, New Mexico: The property sits on 7,599 acres and includes several structures, including a main dwelling of 33,339 square feet, according to online records at the Santa Fe County Assessor’s office. The 2019 appraised value was $18.1 million, according to Gus Martinez, the county’s assessor.Little Saint James, U.S. Virgin Islands: Spanning about 72 acres, based on Google Earth’s measuring tool, the island is valued around $20 million, according to an estimate from Farhad Vladi, founder of the real estate brokerage Vladi Private Islands that specializes in listing private islands for sale worldwide. Vladi based his estimate on comparable sales in similar areas but has not been to the island itself.Paris, France: Federal prosecutors also named a property in Paris that Epstein owned, but didn’t provide any additional details such as an address or type of property. Other media outlets report the property is located on the famed Avenue Foch, where current properties are listed for sale between $1.6 million and $5.4 million, according to Sotheby’s International Realty.VehiclesEpstein owns at least 15 vehicles, according to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, which provides information on registered sex offenders and their assets so that the public can track their whereabouts.Those include a Bentley, a Cadillac Escalade, seven Chevrolet Suburban SUVs, a Chevrolet Express cargo van, a Hummer, two GMCs and a Land Rover Range Rover.The 2017 Bentley Mulsanne is easily worth the most, with an estimated sticker price of about $224,827 in good condition from a used car dealer, according to Kelley Blue Book. The rest of the vehicles would have a collective trade-in value of more than $225,000, based on Kelley Blue Book values for used cars in good condition.Federal prosecutors also said Epstein owned two planes, with at least one capable of international travel. In a court filing, defense lawyers said this week that Epstein sold one of the private jets in June and would ground the other as part of a bail settlement.How did he earn his money?Early years: Epstein got a job in his early 20s teaching math and physics at The Dalton School, a college prep school on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. According to at 2003 Vanity Fair report, Epstein tutored the son of Alan “Ace” Greenberg, the legendary chairman of Bear Stearns, then a New York-based investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm.Wall Street debut: That connected helped Epstein to join Bear Stearns, where he was mentored by both Greenberg and then-CEO James Cayne, according to the report. Epstein rose to the rank of limited partner, one step below full partner. But he left the company abruptly in 1981 under a cloud of controversy.Epstein at the time said he wanted to run his own business, Vanity Fair reported, but there were rumors of technical infringement that Cayne and Epstein denied. Greenberg says he can’t recall, according to the report.On his own: In August 1981, Epstein formed his own company, Intercontinental Assets Group Inc., listed at his apartment on Manhattan’s East 66th Street, New York incorporation records show.Six years later, he founded J. Epstein & Co., a money management firm based in New York, online financial records show. He later changed the company’s name to The Financial Trust Co. and shifted its headquarters to the U.S. Virgin Islands, chiefly for tax purposes, according to Fortune magazine and other published reports.And, in 1993, Epstein founded Financial Strategy Group Inc., a company based at his Palm Beach home, online financial records show.Friends in high placesAs his business career advanced, Epstein met two more men who would impact his financial fortunes.Leslie Wexner: The first was Wexner, his partner in the Manhattan townhouse and chairman and CEO of L Brands. Epstein and Wexner hit it off from the start, according to Vanity Fair.They teamed up on plans and construction of a model town in New Albany, Ohio. An online business record for The New Albany Company LLC showed Epstein at one point was the business’ president and Wexner was the chief executive officer. The New Albany Company LLC website doesn’t mention Epstein.Wexner also has been the only client of Epstein’s money management firm to be publicly identified, according to a 2010 Forbes report. No other public records have been found. Wexner representatives have said the L Brands executive severed ties with Epstein many years ago.Steven Jude Hoffenberg: During the 1980s, Epstein met Hoffenberg, who ran Towers Financial Corp., a company that the Vanity Fair report identified as a collection agency that was supposed to buy debts people owed to hospitals, banks, and phone companies.Making Epstein his protégé, Hoffenberg set him up an office at the Villard Houses, a historic landmark on Madison Avenue, with a $25,000 monthly payment as a consultant, the report said.The two men launched what proved to be unsuccessful efforts to take over Pan America World Airways in 1987 and Emery Air Freight in 1988, the report said.Hoffenberg in 1995 pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from a $460 million Ponzi scheme. The scam involved selling fraudulent notes and bonds, using money from later investors to pay interest that was owed to earlier investors.Telling lawsuitsHoffenberg, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison, later accused Epstein and his firm The Financial Trust Co. of being "co-conspirators" in the Ponzi scheme Hoffenberg had pleaded guilty to. In the 2016 lawsuit, Hoffenberg alleged that Epstein's firm was a "fifty billion dollar hedge fund."Hoffenberg later withdrew the lawsuit. A similar lawsuit was filed last summer by Tower Financial note and bondholders but was dismissed.Charitable givingAnother indication of Epstein's wealth could be his charitable donations over the years. Harvard received a $6.5 million contribution from him in 2003. Other donations went to a building at the Ivy League school as well as research to a history professor and a Harvard psychologist.Press releases for the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation claim other contributions, but it's unclear how many of the charities actually received the advertised donations, according to an NBC News report.Another foundation linked to Epstein, U.S. Virgin Islands-based Gratitude America, Ltd. made a $150,000 donation to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a $375,000 contribution to the International Peace Institute in 2017, the organization's IRS tax return shows.His largest contribution may have come from a previous Epstein charity called the C.O.U.Q. Foundation and the financier's Financial Trust Co. The two organizations in 2008 gave a $46.7 million combined contribution of stock and other assets to a Wexner family nonprofit called the YLK Charitable Fund, the fund's tax return shows.The massive donation came as the relationship between the Epstein and Wexner was fraying, according to a report from CNBC.Why is Epstein called a billionaire?It seems the billionaire status may have come from a lawsuit filed by Epstein's alleged victims who were suing him for emotional pain he caused when they were teenage girls, according to a May 14, 2010 article in The Palm Beach Post. Epstein’s lawyers said he was worth "more than nine figures," but it appears they never provided any financial documentation backing the assertion up.There seems to be no good reason to characterize Epstein as a billionaire, according to Forbes magazine in 2010 when explaining his absence from its ranking of the country’s and world’s richest individuals.“The guy … is NOT A BILLIONAIRE. We repeat: not a billionaire,” Forbes wrote then about its findings. “More likely he is worth a fraction of that. Because of so much uncertainty around his numbers, he’s never been included in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans.”USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey contributed to this report.

The 17 Best Marketing and Advertising Examples1. Nike: Just Do It.Source: brandchannelDid you know that, once upon a time, Nike's product catered almost exclusively to marathon runners? Then, a fitness craze emerged -- and the folks in Nike's marketing department knew they needed to take advantage of it to surpass their main competitor, Reebok. (At the time, Reebok was selling more shoes than Nike). And so, in the late 1980s, Nike created the "Just Do It." campaign.It was a hit.In 1988, Nike sales were at $800 million; by 1998, sales exceeded $9.2 billion. "Just Do It." was short and sweet, yet encapsulated everything people felt when they were exercising -- and people still feel that feeling today. Don’t want to run five miles? Just Do It. Don’t want to walk up four flights of stairs? Just Do It. It's a slogan we can all relate to: the drive to push ourselves beyond our limits.The LessonWhen you're trying to decide the best way to present your brand, ask yourself: What problem are you solving for your customers? What solution does your product or service provide? By hitting on that core issue in all of your messaging, you'll connect with consumers on an emotional level that is hard to ignore.2. Coke: Share a CokeBig brands are often hard-pressed to do something ground-breaking when they're already so big. So, what did Coca-Cola do to appeal to the masses? They appealed to individuals -- by putting their names on each bottle.The Share a Coke campaign began in Australia in 2011, when Coca-Cola personalized each bottle with the 150 most popular names in the country. Since then, the U.S. has followed suit, printing first names across the front of its bottles and cans in Coke's branded font. You can even order custom bottles on Coke's website to request things like nicknames and college logos.It was a breaking story across the marketing and advertising industry. Many consumers were enchanted by it, while others were confused by it -- why make a temporary item so personal? Pepsi even released counter-ads shortly after the campaign launched.Nonetheless, Coke received immediate attention for it.The LessonCoke fans are regular buyers, and the company leaned into that sense of individual ownership with full force. Wondering what name you'll get out of the vending machine was a fun thrill in and of itself -- even if it isn't yours, it encourages you to "share a Coke" with whomever's name is on the front.3. Absolut Vodka: The Absolut BottleSource: Burning Through Journey BlogDespite having no distinct shape, Absolut made its bottle the most recognizable bottle in the world. Its campaign, which featured print ads showing bottles "in the wild," was so successful that they didn’t stop running it for 25 years. It's the longest uninterrupted ad campaign everand comprises over 1,500 separate ads. I guess if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.When the campaign started, Absolut had a measly 2.5% of the vodka market. When it ended in the late 2000s, Absolut was importing 4.5 million cases peryear, or half of all imported vodka in the U.S.The LessonNo matter how boring your product looks, it doesn’t mean you can’t tell your story in an interesting way. Let me repeat: Absolut created 1500 ads of one bottle. Be determined and differentiate your product in the same way.4. Anheuser-Busch: WhassupWhen's the last time an advertisement literally changed the way we talk to one another? Allow me to answer that question with another question: "Whassup?!"This series of commercials, which first appeared in late 1999, features a group of friends connecting on a group phone call (we don't do those much anymore, do we?) while drinking beer and "watching the game" on TV.It starts gently: "What are you doin'?" Someone asks. "Watching the game, havin' a Bud" (a Budweiser), someone replies. As more friends pick up the phone, the hilarity ensues: "WHASSUP!?" is yelled back and forth, becoming a classic catchphrase and an icon of beer-drinking culture that ran constantly on sports networks over the next few years.The LessonThe ad took pop culture by storm during the Super Bowl in 2000, and you can still hear its echoes today. Why? Anheuser-Busch showed us just how silly and informal an ad can be without ruffling feathers or going off-brand. Dare to celebrate your audience's absurdities. The more genuine your ad is, the more valuable your product is.5. Miller Lite: Great Taste, Less FillingSource: BuildingPharmaBrands blogThink it's easy to create a whole new market for your product? The Miller Brewing Company (now MillerCoors) did just that with the light beer market -- and dominated it. The goal of the "Great Taste, Less Filling" campaign was getting "real men" to drink light beer, but they were battling the common misconception that light beer can never actually taste good.Taking the debate head-on, Miller featured masculine models drinking their light beer and declaring it great tasting.The LessonFor decades after this campaign aired, Miller Lite dominated the light beer market it had essentially created. What’s the lesson marketers can learn? Strive to be different. If people tell you there isn’t room for a product, create your own category so you can quickly become the leader.6. Always: #LikeaGirlMy eyes are still wet while writing this blurb.The Always brand hit a home run with this advertisement, not because it went viral after the commercial ran in the 2015 Super Bowl, but because it was a groundbreaking message that hundreds of millions of people repeated long after the campaign was over.The campaign began as a commercial explaining the stigma behind playing sports "like a girl" -- implying that the boy's way is better or correct. By the end of the ad, the message is both clear and inspiring: Girls are just as fit and capable as boys are, particularly during puberty -- a stage of life that is extremely important to Always and its women's products.The message is now a holistic initiative by Always you can learn about here, and a hashtag that's still used on social media today.The LessonAcknowledge not just your audience, but the challenges they face -- especially the ones that reflect your time or culture. Not every societal issue is off limits to marketers and advertisers. Take a stand on the ones you know your audience supports, and you'll access a customer base that identifies with your passion.7. Volkswagen: Think SmallSource: design shackMany marketing and advertising professionals like to call Volkswagen's "Think Small" campaign the gold standard. Created in 1960 by a legendary advertising group at Doyle Dane & Bernbach (DDB), the campaign set out to answer one question: How do you change peoples' perceptions not only about a product, but also about an entire group of people?See, Americans always had a propensity to buy big American cars -- and even 15 years after WWII ended, most Americans were still not buying small German cars. So what did this Volkswagen advertisement do? It played right into the audience’s expectations. You think I’m small? Yeah, I am. They never tried to be something they were not.The LessonThat's the most important takeaway from this campaign: Don’t try to sell your company, product, or service as something it’s not. Consumers recognize and appreciate honesty.8. Google: Year in SearchThis isn't the oldest or most well-known advertisement on our list, but it's become the most powerful over its nine-year (and still going) existence. So powerful and so true, you forget it's an advertisement.Year in Search began in 2009 as "Zeitgeist," a written report of the public's most common Google searches over the previous 12 months. The following year, Google adapted it for a three-minute video. Since then, it's been a bold, yearly reminder of how much we depend on Google for information on the news and events that give the entire world pause. Check out the company's latest video from 2017 above.The LessonRemind your customers how much you care that they care. These stories elicit a variety of emotions, but ultimately unite everyone -- no matter what Google products they might like -- through an uplifting message of how our usage of the company reflects the best in all of us.9. Dos Equis: The Most Interesting Man in the WorldSource: The Open FieldYou know who he is. He smokes Cuban cigars, is always surrounded by beautiful women, and -- most importantly -- he drinks Dos Equis beer.A key component of a strong campaign for an indulgent vice -- like beer, desserts, or luxury items -- is to make it cool. And when it comes to The Most Interesting Man in the World, he's one of the coolest commercial guys there is.And at the end of every commercial, he says: "I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis. Stay thirsty my friends."The LessonThe hilarious hyperbole employed in this campaign makes it memorable the next time viewers head out to buy some beer. And even though Dos Equis recently replaced The Most Interesting Man with a new actor, he is forever immortalized in meme culture and in liquor stores due to this short, sweet, and memorable tagline -- and the cool dude vibe it makes viewers harken back to.10. California Milk Processor Board: Got Milk?Source: Broward Palm Beach New TimesThanks to the California Milk Processor Board's "Got Milk?" campaign, milk sales in California rose 7% in just one year. But the impact ran across state borders, and to this day, you still can't escape the millions of “Got [Fill-in-the-Blank]?” parodies.Note, though, that the ad didn't target people who weren’t drinking milk; it instead focused on the consumers who already were.The LessonIt's not always about getting a brand new audience to use your products or services -- sometimes, it's about getting your current audience to appreciate and use your product more often. Turn your audience into advocates, and use marketing and ad content to tell them why they should continue to enjoy the product or service you are already providing for them.11. Metro Trains: Dumb Ways to DieYes, you read that right: Dumb Ways to Die.In Melbourne, Australia, Metro Trains wanted to get across a simple message: No horsing around near train tracks. Disorderly conduct could lead to injuries, or even death, but instead of typical warning signs or announcements inside train stations, Metro Trains came up with Dumb Ways to Die, a song that has garnered 157 million YouTube views since it debuted in 2012.The song is about dumb ways to die -- for example, by poking a grizzly bear with a stick, or taking your helmet off in outer space -- and it features a catchy little chorus you won't be able to stop humming to yourself (because singing it is a little morbid): "Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die."At the end of the video, after you've watched adorable cartoon characters dying in the dumbest of ways, you get to the moral of the story: There are many dumb ways to die, but the dumbest possible way would be if you died while standing on the edge of a train platform, drove through a railroad sign, or tried to cross over a train track.The LessonThis beloved, now-famous campaign communicates a simple idea in a creative and memorable way -- and you don't feel like you're being nagged, the way some public service announcements do. If your subject matter is grim or boring, consider using creativity to get your message across.12. Apple: Get a MacWhile there have been many great Apple campaigns, this one takes the cake. The video above is just one of a series of iterations of this campaign, and the Mac vs. PC debate ended up being one of the most successful campaigns ever for Apple. The company experienced 42% market share growth in its first year with its help. These commercials tell Mac's audience everything they need to know about the product without being overt -- and in a clever way.The LessonJust because your product does some pretty amazing things doesn’t mean you need to hit your audience over the head with it. Instead, explain your product’s benefits in a relatable way so consumers are able to see themselves using it.13. Clairol: Does She or Doesn’t She?Source: Current360The first time Clairol asked this question in 1957, the answer was 1 to 15 -- as in, only 1 in 15 people were using artificial hair color. Just 11 years later, the answer was 1 of 2, according to TIME Magazine. The campaign was apparently so successful that some states stopped requiring women to denote hair color on their driver’s license. When your ad campaign starts changing things at the DMV, you know you've hit a nerve.Clairol did the opposite of what most marketers would do: They didn’twant every woman on the street running around saying they were using their product. They wanted women to understand that their product was so good that people wouldn’t be able to tell if they were using it or not.The LessonSometimes, simply conveying how and why your product works is enough for consumers. Showing becomes more effective than telling.14. De Beers: A Diamond is ForeverSource: BBC NewsIn 1999, AdAge declared De Beers' "A Diamond is Forever" the most memorable slogan of the twentieth century. But the campaign, which proposed (pun very much intended) the idea that no marriage would be complete without a diamond ring, wasn't just riding on the coattails of an existing industry. De Beers actually built the industry; it presented the idea that a diamond ring was a necessary luxury.According to the New York Times, N.W. Ayer's game plan was to "create a situation where almost every person pledging marriage feels compelled to acquire a diamond engagement ring."The LessonAdvertising can make a relatively inexpensive product seem luxurious and essential.15. Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell LikeSource: ColoribusThe very first part of Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign, created by Wieden + Kennedy and launched in February 2010, was the following commercial. It became a viral success practically overnight:That video has over 51 million views as of this writing. Several months later, in June 2010, Old Spice followed up with a second commercial featuring the same actor, Isaiah Mustafa. Mustafa quickly became "Old Spice Guy," a nickname Wieden + Kennedy capitalized on with an interactive video campaign in which Mustafa responded to fans' comments on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media websites with short, personalized videos.In about two days, the company had churned out 186 personalized, scripted, and quite funny video responses featuring Mustafa responding to fans online. According to Inc, these videos saw almost 11 million views, and Old Spice gained about 29,000 Facebook fans and 58,000 new Twitter followers."We were creating and sending miniature TV commercials back to individual consumers that were personalized, and we were doing it on a rapid-fire basis," Jason Bagley, creative director at Wieden + Kennedy and a writer for the campaign, told Inc. "No one expects to ask a question and then be responded to. I think that's where we broke through."The LessonIf you find your campaign's gained momentum with your fans and followers, do everything you can to keep them engaged while keeping your messaging true to your brand's voice and image.16. Wendy’s: Where’s the Beef?Source: AdSoft DirectIs it enough to say this campaign was successful because it featured a giant hamburger bun and a cute set of old ladies? No? I didn’t think so.Wendy’s took a more gutsy approach in this advertising campaign: It targeted its competitors. The simple phrase "Where's the beef?" was used to point out the lack of beef in competitors' burgers -- and it quickly became a catchphrase that encapsulated all that was missing in their audience's lives.While you can’t predict when a catchphrase will catch on and when it won’t, Wendy’s (wisely) didn’t over-promote their hit phrase. The campaign only ran for a year, and allowed it to gently run its course.The LessonBe careful with your campaigns' success and failures. Just because you find something that works doesn't mean you should keep doing it over and over to the point it's played out. Allow your company to change and grow, and you may find that you can have even greater success in the future by trying something new.17. Procter & Gamble: Thank You, MomI'll give you a minute to dry your eyes after that one.Seriously -- you wouldn't expect a household and cleaning products company commercial to pull at the heartstrings like that, would you? Lately, though, Procter & Gamble (P&G) has launched some of the best ads we've ever seen from the consumer goods industry.That's because P&G identified the story behind the story of Olympic athletes -- the stories of the supportive moms who pushed these world-class athletes throughout their entire lives leading up to that crowning moment. And yes, they probably had to do a lot of laundry and cleanup along the way -- presumably using P&G products.This article originally appeared on HubSpot.For further reading, check out HubSpot’s “32 Inspiring Inbound Marketing Examples to Spark Your Own Campaign Ideas [Free Ebook].”

New York City real estate developer and reality TV star Donald Trump (1946- ) was elected America’s 45th president in November 2016. The billionaire businessman ran as a Republican and scored an upset victory over his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. Trump began his career working for his father’s real estate development firm, taking over its leadership in the 1970s. In the ensuing decades, he acquired and built hotels, office towers, casinos and golf courses and also appeared on 14 seasons of “The Apprentice.” He is the first person ever elected to the U.S. presidency without any previous government or military experience. On December 18, 2019, President Trump became the third president in U.S. history to be impeached by the House of Representatives.Early Life and EducationDonald John Trump, the son of Fred, a real estate developer, and his wife, Mary, a homemaker and Scottish immigrant, was born on June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York. The second youngest of five children, he attended private school in Queens before enrolling in the New York Military Academy for eighth grade through high school. Afterward, Trump studied for two years at New York City’s Fordham University then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, where he earned an undergraduate degree in 1968. During the Vietnam War, he received four student deferments and one medical deferment and wasn’t drafted for military service.Business CareerAfter college, Trump joined his father’s company, E. Trump & Son, which developed apartments for the middle-class in New York City’s outer boroughs. He became president of the firm in 1974 and went on to make a name for himself in the Manhattan real estate world with the construction of such high-profile projects as the Grand Hyatt New York hotel, which opened in 1980, and Trump Tower, a luxury high-rise that opened in 1983. Also in the 1980s, Trump opened hotel-casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey; acquired Manhattan’s storied Plaza Hotel and bought the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, which he renovated and turned into a private club. Among other ventures, he briefly owned an airline and a professional football team in the short-lived United States Football League. In 1987, “The Art of the Deal,” Trump’s memoir and business-advice book, was published and became a best-seller. In 1989, his net worth was $1.5 billion, according to Forbes, and he made his first appearance on the cover of Time magazine.However, in the early 1990s, following an economic downturn and slump in the real estate market, Trump was deeply in debt and several of his casinos filed for bankruptcy. In 1995, he reported a nearly $1 billion loss on his taxes. Trump eventually made a financial comeback, in part with a business model that involved licensing his name for a wide variety of ventures ranging from condominiums to steaks and neckties. He continued to acquire and develop real estate properties, and in 2016, when he became the first billionaire elected to the White House, his empire included office buildings, hotels and golf courses around the world. (His various business holdings, before and during his presidency, would become the topic of two Supreme Court cases where potential conflicts of interest were investigated, prompting a request for Trump to release his tax returns).Entertainment CareerIn 2004, Trump started hosting a reality TV show, “The Apprentice,” in which contestants vied for a management job at one of his companies. The show featured Trump’s catchphrase “You’re fired” and drew big ratings. The business mogul eventually raked in $1 million per episode and became a household name. He hosted 14 combined seasons of “The Apprentice” and a spinoff show, “The Celebrity Apprentice.”In addition to starring on “The Apprentice” and making cameo appearances in other TV shows and movies like “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” Trump owned several beauty pageants from 1996 to 2015, including Miss Universe and Miss USA. In 1999, he founded a modeling agency that continues to operate.FamilyIn 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelnickova, with whom he went on to have three children, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump. The pair divorced in 1992 and the following year Trump wed actress Marla Maples, with whom he has a daughter, Tiffany Trump. After Trump’s second marriage ended in 1999, he tied the knot with Slovenian model Melania Knauss in 2005. His son with Melania Trump, Barron Trump, was born in 2006.2016 Presidential CampaignBefore winning the U.S. presidency, Trump never held any elected or appointed government office. He had considered a presidential bid on at least several earlier occasions prior to the 2016 race but ultimately opted not to run. In 2011, Trump began questioning in TV interviews whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States. In the following years, he harnessed rumors about Obama’s birthplace to help grow his audience on social media and gain notice in the world of conservative politics. (The White House released the Hawaiian-born president’s short-form birth certificate in 2008 and his long-form birth certificate in 2011.)In June 2015, the real estate developer announced his presidential candidacy in a speech at Trump Tower. His ran his campaign on a pledge to “Make America Great Again,” the slogan emblazoned on the baseball hats he often wore at his public rallies, and spoke out against political correctness, illegal immigration and government lobbyists, while promising to cut taxes, renegotiate trade deals and create millions of jobs for American workers. His brash, unapologetic style and sometimes-controversial comments garnered widespread media coverage. In May 2016, he cinched the Republican nomination, beating out a field of 16 other candidates, including Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and John Kasich.In the general election, Trump ran against Democrat Hillary Clinton, the first female presidential candidate from a major political party. The race was divisive, in part due to a number of inflammatory remarks and tweets made by Trump. While some members of the Republican establishment distanced themselves from the candidate, Trump’s supporters admired his outspokenness and business success, along with the fact that he wasn’t a politician. A big campaign promise was to build a fortified border wall with Mexico.As the election neared, almost all national polls predicted a victory for the Democratic nominee. However, on November 8, 2016, in what was viewed by many people as a stunning upset, Trump and his vice-presidential running mate, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana, defeated Clinton and her running mate, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. Trump won reliably red states as well as important swing states including Florida and Ohio, and racked up 306 electoral votes to his rival’s 232 votes. Clinton won the popular vote.Investigation Into Russian Interference in 2016 ElectionOn July 22, 2016—just days before the Democratic National Convention—WikiLeaks published emails hacked from the DNC, prompting DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz to resign.The FBI began investigating the hacks, and in September, Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Adam Schiff of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees issued a joint statement stating Russian intelligence agencies were behind the election interference. Their faith was echoed by the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of National Intelligence on Election Security.In January 2017, The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report concluding that Russia interfered with the 2016 election. The report found that the Russians did not directly tamper with polls, but instead disseminated pro-Trump messages across the Internet and hacked the DNC. Facebook later announced in 2017 that over 3,000 political ads on their site were linked to Russia.President Donald Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey and insisted via Twitter that there was “no collusion!” between his team and the hackers.Former FBI director Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel to investigate possible collusion between Russia and Trump’s campaign. The Mueller Report found that Russia "interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion" and "violated U.S. criminal law.” It ultimately failed to find the rumored link between the Trump administration and the interference, concluding: “the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” Several Trump associates were indicted, including Michael Cohen, George Papadopoulos, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates and Michael Flynn.Trump Impeached, Then AcquittedPresident Trump was impeached on December 18, 2019 on two articles—abuse of power and obstruction of justice. The impeachment charges stemmed mainly from a July 25, 2019 phone call with the newly-elected president of the Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. During the call, President Trump asked the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden, vice president under Barack Obama and a Democratic hopeful for the 2020 presidential race. Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, had publicly accused Biden of having former chief Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin removed from office because he was investigating Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company. Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, was on the board of the company.An anonymous whistleblower came forward to report the call: "In the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election."Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump on September 24, 2019. Just under a month later, members of the House voted along partisan lines in favor of impeachment. All but two Democrats supported the article on abuse of power, while all but three Democrats supported the article on obstruction of Congress. No Republicans voted in favor of either article of impeachment against President Trump. On February 5, 2020, the Senate voted largely along party lines to acquit Trump on both charges.