By Andrea Fuller Ben Protess David Yaffe-Bellany
US President Donald Trump has long boasted of being a billionaire, even as journalists, accountants and the New York attorney-general have cast doubt on just how many billions he is worth.
Trump’s precise net worth is unknowable, partly because the Trump family business is a privately held company that discloses little about its financials. The president also derives some of his wealth from real estate, the value of which can be difficult to estimate. Some of his assets are shared with family members or business partners, making it tricky to untangle which portion belongs to him.
Still, some of the president’s financial holdings – for example, those in the sharemarket and the cryptocurrency industry – are publicly known. The annual financial disclosure that Trump must file as president offers a snapshot of the murkier elements of his business. It also lists his outstanding debts, including from a few recent legal judgments against him.
Together, that information shows Trump’s net worth has soared in the early months of his second term, mostly thanks to his crypto investments, suggesting he might be worth $US10 billion or more. Yet a vast majority of that sum is not liquid. He would have to unload investments and sell his stakes in various ventures to realise much of that wealth.