Donald Trump’s cash stockpile at risk from US$450 million dual verdicts
- Damages from New York civil cases could cut 15 per cent of former US president Donald Trump’s net worth
- Trump faces mounting legal bills after being charged with 91 criminal offences in four criminal prosecutions
Donald Trump is facing a pair of major legal verdicts in New York that risk wiping out most - if not all - of the cash the billionaire says he has on hand, a potential blow to the presidential candidate whose persona is tied up with financial success and wealth.
On top of that, a verdict is expected this week in New York’s civil fraud trial, which seeks the return of US$370 million in “illegal profits” Trump allegedly made by lying to banks about his wealth to get better terms on loans.
In a deposition last year, Trump described his stockpile of cash as being “substantially in excess” of US$400 million. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index placed his liquid assets at about US$600 million, though Trump’s exact financial status remains famously opaque.
The prospect of being hit with damage awards totaling more than US$450 million in less than a week points to the potential for a cash problem.
The two lawsuits sought to punish Trump financially. If the judge in the New York fraud case accepts the attorney general’s US$370 million request, both will have succeeded in hitting at the billionaire’s wealth.