Trump’s casino empire has filed for bankruptcy more times in the past 30 years than any other major U.S. company, CNN Money reported, a fact Trump tries to twist to his benefit.
“I have used the laws of this country … the [bankruptcy] chapter laws, to do a great job for my company, for myself, for my employees, for my family,” Trump said during the first Republican debate in August 2015.
Though Trump never filed for personal bankruptcy, he did lose some personal assets in several of his filings. But despite a few hits to the chin, Trump’s casinos remained in operation even after the Chapter 11 filings. This piece of bankruptcy law allows businesses to stay open and shed debt owed to banks, employees and suppliers.
Here’s a look at President Trump’s bankruptcies:
1. Trump Taj Mahal, 1991
Trump’s first business bankruptcy hit him the hardest personally, according to a New York Times report.
Just one year after opening, and after spending $1 billion in construction at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, the casino filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. It was $3 billion in debt and Trump had about $900 million in personal liabilities.
He lost half his stake in the casino and was forced to sell his yacht and airline company.
2. Trump Castle, 1992
Less than a year after filing Chapter 11 with the Taj Mahal, Trump was back in bankruptcy court for Trump’s Castle, another Atlantic City casino that opened in 1985.
To get this business out of the red, Trump had to trade his 50 percent share in the casino for lower interest rates of $338 million in bonds, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
3. Trump Plaza and Casino, 1992
The Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, which opened in 1984, declared bankruptcy at the same time as the Castle. The casino had racked up $250 million in debt, coupled with an 80 percent decline in cash flow — the casino industry had fallen on hard times, PhillyMag.com reported.
4. Plaza Hotel, 1992
For Trump businesses, 1992 was a bad year. Trump also filed bankruptcy on another Plaza, this one the famed hotel in New York City, later that year.
Trump bought the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan for$390 million in 1988, but it tacked on more than $550 million in debt by 1992.
In the Chapter 11 reorganization Trump remained the CEO (sans salary), but dropped his 49 percent stake in the Plaza to a total of six lenders, according toABC News.
5. Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts, 2004
Trump’s businesses go 12 years before the next filing, for Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts. His casinos — including the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Marina and Trump Plaza casinos in Atlantic City, and a riverboat casino in Indiana — were more than $1.8 billion in debt, according tothe NBC.
In the restructuring, Trump had to reduce his share in the company from 47 percent to 27 percent, but he remained the company’s larges single shareholder, according to The Associated Press.
6. Trump Entertainment Resorts, 2009
Crippled by the recession, Trump Entertainment Resorts — formerly Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts — was back in bankruptcy court just five years later after it missed a $53.1 million bond interest payment, according toABC News.This time, Trump resigned as the company’s chairman and had his corporate stake in the company reduced to 10 percent.
The brand continued to use the Trump name until 2014 when two Atlantic City casinos that still had his namefiled yet again for bankruptcy. Trump sued to have his name removed, CNN reported.
