GENEROUS ESTIMATE

Trump Claims His Personal Brand Is Worth $100 Billion

The president included the bizarre claim in his lawsuit against the New York Times.

President Trump claimed his personal brand is worth $100 billion in his $15 billion lawsuit against The New York Times filed Monday evening. Describing the figure as “reasonably estimated,” the suit says “the injury to President Trump’s business and personal reputation inflicted by [The Times] threatens to continue, thereby causing massive economic damage to his brand value and significant damage and injury to his future financial prospects.” Though Trump claims his personal brand is “$100 billion,” more official estimates put him at about one thirteenth of that amount. As of September 16th, Forbes and Bloomberg estimated the president’s net worth between $7.3 and $7.7 billion. The suit takes aim at a book and three articles published by The Times that were critical of Trump. Trump’s lawyers argue that the book, Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success, aimed to dismantle the notion that Trump is a brilliant businessman.