Lucky Loser

Inheritance. Fraud. Deceit. Lucky Loser is an explosive investigation into the truth behind Trump`s wealth, drawing on decades` worth of confidential tax information, business records and insider interviews. Soon after announcing his first campaign for the U.S. presidency, Donald J. Trump declared life has `not been easy for me`. He spun a fable of how he turned a small loan from his father into a multi-billion-dollar empire, and argued this made him singularly qualified to lead the country. Except none of it was true. Born to a rich father, Trump received the equivalent of more than $500 million today. The story of Trump`s finances is one of rises and falls, of squandering fortunes on money-losing businesses to be saved by blind luck. He tacks his name to buildings while taking out huge loans he`ll never repay. He obsesses over appearances while ignoring threats to the bottom line and mounting costly lawsuits. He tarnishes the value of the Trump name by allowing anyone with a big enough cheque to use it. He makes side deals to cut out the television producer who not only rescued him from bankruptcy but casts him as a business guru – the image that carries him to the White House. Here, for the first time, in a meticulous masterpiece of narrative reporting filled with scoops, is the definitive true accounting of Trump and his money - what he had, what he lost, and what he has left - and the final word on the myth of Trump, the self-made millionaire.