Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton made boatloads of money after leaving office—yet still nowhere near as much as the richest president in American history.
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Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Tuesday, October 8th. Today on Forbes, how Donald Trump earned $605 million over the last three years. Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton made boatloads of money after leaving office, yet still nowhere near as much as the richest president in American history. Donald Trump makes more money today than he has in years. Out of office and back on the campaign trail, the former president earned an estimated $218 million of operating income last year, roughly double what he made during his final year in the White House. So, what changed? Trump's golf game, mostly. Well, not necessarily his playing abilities, but rather his golf-centered businesses. No longer just a diversion, the president's golf portfolio now generates huge profits, lifting his club business, hotel collection, and licensing ventures. Trump's golf-connected properties generated an estimated $74 million more in operating income last year than they did in 2020. Add Mar-a-Lago, a private club with no-course, and the increase rises to $91 million, equal to 84 percent of Trump's overall jump in income. Further padding profits, Trump also made money the way most former presidents do, selling books and delivering speeches. He earned an estimated $5 million from such endeavors in 2023, up from just a couple hundred thousand while he was president. Another $5 million or so came from peddling NFTs. Not every asset performed well. Trump's office and retail properties mostly flat-lined, and his new social media venture, Bled Cash, though his stake in the unprofitable business, is still worth $1.9 billion. The real estate mogul's overall operating income totaled an estimated $605 million over his first three years out of office, from 2021 to 2023. Far more than the $445 million he earned during his first three years as president. This, according to an analysis of tax returns, financial disclosures, bond filings, credit reports, regulatory filings, and internal records. Trump earned good money as president, mostly from his office buildings and retail locations, but operating profits exploded when he left the White House, thanks to private clubs and golf resorts. Trump's hotels, which lost an estimated $23 million in COVID-infected 2020, generated roughly $11 million of profit in 2021, all attributable to Trump National Doral, a golf resort in Miami. The four-course property earned an estimated $13 million, while the rest of Trump's hotel portfolio appears to have lost money. Trump also collected $6 million of appearance fees during his first year out of office, including $2.5 million for providing commentary on a fight featuring 58-year-old Evander Holyfield. After a low of $110 million in operating income in 2020, in 2021, he earned operating profits of $180 million. In 2022, the company that runs Truth Social, Trump's Twitter knockoff, lost $23 million on an operating basis. That would have seemed like a significant amount if the former president, who owned 90% of the venture, weren't making so much money elsewhere. But profits at Trump's golf properties continued to climb, and his licensing business got a one-time bump from a property in Hawaii, which provided $13 million, possibly a breakup fee for a doomed deal. All in all, in 2022, Trump earned $207 million in operating income. In 2023, as initiation fees at Mar-a-Lago approached a rumored $1 million, estimated operating profits reached a new high of $23 million. Trump's 10 U.S. golf clubs, meanwhile, hauled in an estimated $48 million, tripled their average when Trump was in the White House. An extra boost came from Trump's 30% interest in 555 California Street, a San Francisco property that appears to have collected a tenant settlement of more than $20 million, propelling profits to an all-time high. All in all, in 2023, Trump earned $218 million in operating income. For full coverage, and to see a line-by-line, business-by-business breakdown of Trump's assets, an estimated operating income made from each, check out Dan Alexander's piece on Forbes.com. This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.
