So far, the president’s ego has taken a bigger hit than his wallet. But that could still change.
The last 12 days have been jarring for the Trump Organization—though not crippling. First, news hit that Shopify was cutting off the president’s ecommerce business, but that only brought in an estimated $931,000 a year anyway. Next, the Professional Golfers’ Association announced it was moving the 2022 PGA Championship, which might cost Trump a couple million in sales annually. Finally, New York City said it would cancel the president’s contracts, which provide about $18 million in revenue a year—not enough to destabilize an empire that hauls in $600 million or so. The damage may not be done, though. On Wednesday, two Trump tenants, TB Alliance and the Girl Scouts of Greater New York, said they are looking for ways to move out of the president’s Wall Street skyscraper. If more tenants follow their lead, either by getting out of leases or promising not to extend them when they expire, the problems could get far worse for Trump. His commercial real estate holdings generate an estimated $191 million of rent annually. And since a high percentage of that rent turns into profit, those assets make up an estimated 59% of the president’s $2.5 billion fortune. If you want to understand the effect of the riot on Trump’s finances, in other words, you have to know the impact on his commercial real estate holdings. With that in mind, Forbes reached out to roughly 140 Trump tenants to see whether they are planning to stay in the president’s buildings. Tellingly, very few of them wanted to answer. About 120 did not respond at all. A half dozen or so replied but did not detail their plans. Roughly 10 declined to comment.
