Donald Trump’s success story

His parents raised their large family in a two-story mock-Tudor home in Jamaica Estates, Queens. As a child, Donald went to Kew-Forest School in Forest Hills, Queens, a private school at which Fred was on the Board of Trustees. At an early age, Donald began getting into trouble.
"In the second grade I actually gave a teacher a black eye—I punched my music teacher because I didn't think he knew anything about music and I almost got expelled," Trump would later recall.
Worried about his son’s apparent lack of discipline, Fred moved Donald to the New York Military Academy in upstate Cornwall, New York at the start of the eighth grade. Donald would remain there throughout high school. He graduated with the rank of cadet captain, and later credited the school as the place where he learned to channel "aggression into achievement."
On holidays and summers as a teenager, Donald followed Fred around to building sites in Brooklyn, where his father would routinely outbuild and buy out his rivals.
"My father would start a building in, say, Flatbush, at the same time that two competitors began putting up their own buildings nearby. Invariably, my father would finish his building three or four months before his competitors did. His building would always be a little better-looking than the other two, with a nicer, more spacious lobby and larger rooms in the apartments themselves,” Trump stated. “Eventually, one or both of his competitors would go bankrupt before they'd finish their buildings, and my father would step in and buy them out," he added.
Following high school, Trump attended Fordham University in the Bronx. After two years, he transferred to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, which offered, at the time, one of the only real-estate studies departments in the country. He graduated with a B.S. in economics in 1968.
While in school, Donald worked for his father part-time, coming on officially once he’d graduated. Those years were an education for the young man. One of the primary lessons he learned concerned the psychology of the real-estate business. His father’s building projects were keyed into the aspirational mindset of the American people, catering to working-class people who wanted to be middle class. He offered a sense of elevation and refinement through large lobbies, sophisticated-looking facades and English names for his apartment buildings, such as Wexford Hall, Sussex Hall, and Edgerton. 
The early heir-apparent seemed to be firstborn son Freddy Jr., but he took little interest in the business and died tragically young. Donald, however, took to the real estate firm with relish, working with his father on deals in Starrett City, Brooklyn, and Forest Hills, Queens. Then the young man was ready to try his hand in Manhattan. (For related reading, see also: The Irreplaceable Brand of Donald Trump.)
Donald Trump had been around his father Fred's real-estate company, Elizabeth Trump and Son, for most of his life. But when he graduated college in 1968, at 22, he began working there full-time. After a few years working directly with his father, Fred, Donald took control of the company in 1971, renaming it The Trump Organization. His father’s business focused on building and renting mid-market apartments in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, New York; however, when he took over, he set his sights on Manhattan.
Donald immediately sought out building projects that were larger and carried higher profiles than his father’s outer-borough apartment blocks. Fred was reluctant at first but eventually backed Donald’s projects in the heart of the Big Apple.
Donald used the tools and tricks that he’d learned at his father’s side, having inherited Fred's eye for distressed real-estate gems. And with the entirety of New York City sliding toward bankruptcy in the early 70s, there were more than a few such gems for the having.
Trump’s biggest early deal was rescuing the once-grand Commodore Hotel from bankruptcy and transforming it into the Grand Hyatt. He opened the refurbished hotel in 1980, with the help of a 40-year tax abatement from the City of New York.
In 1983, Trump put his stamp on the city with his 68-story Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan. The mixed-use skyscraper featured the black glass surfaces and brass trimmings that would mark all too many of his later buildings. The building captured the aesthetic of many baby boomers who were coming into money for the first time during the economic boom of the 1980s.
Around this time, Trump began to use his successes as a developer to dip his toe into politics. He made his first such splash with the renovation of Wollman Rink in Central Park. The fixes had begun in 1980 but were more or less in limbo by 1986. Trump publicly lambasted the inefficiency of the governmental agencies in charge of the renovation, starting a war of words with then-Mayor Ed Koch. As part of the argument, Trump offered to complete the renovation himself, for free. He finished in three months, for well below the city’s budget and to the satisfaction of most, proving his point. His building projects and persona placed Trump squarely in the public eye. And in 1987, he capitalized on his newfound fame with a business book entitled “The Art of the Deal,” which spent 52-weeks on bestseller lists.
Flush with success, Trump moved into the gaming business, buying the Taj Mahal Casino. But the move proved one gamble too many, and by 1989 Trump was in more debt than he could make the payments on. He kept afloat by taking on more loans until 1991. With bankruptcy looming, Trump’s creditors agreed to restructure his debt, taking half-ownership of the casino. The agreement also forced Trump to sell his airline, the Trump Shuttle airline, and his 282-foot Trump Princess yacht. (For more, see: How Donald Trump Survived Near Bankruptcy.)
From this nadir, Trump gradually restored The Trump Organization’s finances. One of the deals that helped him do so involved 40 Wall Street, a 70-story tower in downtown Manhattan, originally known as the Bank of Manhattan Trust building. Trump bought the building for between $1 million and $10 million in 1995 and renovated it. He would later take out a $160 million mortgage on the building to finance other investments. By 2006, Forbes put a $260 million price tag on the property.
In 1999, when patriarch Fred Trump died, he left behind a handsome estate valued at between $250-$300 million. However, the exact amount Donald Trump inherited is unknown. 
As the century turned, Donald Trump continued to buy and construct Manhattan real estate. In 2001, he completed the 72-story Trump World Tower, across the avenue from the United Nations building, and began construction on Trump Place, a series of luxury high-rises along the Hudson River.
Another bold move that paid off was Trump’s $73-million purchase of the Chicago Sun-Times building. In its place, he planned to build the tallest building in the world, Trump International Tower, Chicago. But the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks convinced him to scale back, ultimately building the second-tallest tower in Chicago. Since it opened in 2009, the tower has been a success, especially the hotel at that location, which is regularly ranked as one of the best in the country.
Trump’s career as a public figure, which had shrunk significantly following his near-bankruptcy in the early 90s was revived after he hosted a reality TV show called "The Apprentice" in 2003. The NBC show, in which contestants vied for a management job in one of Trump's companies, was a big hit.
According to some reports, Trump received $3 million per episode of the show. In his July 2015 Federal Election Commission disclosures, Trump stated that NBC had paid him $214 million for hosting and producing the show over the previous 14 seasons. 
His newly refurbished fame was an opportunity for Trump to begin licensing out his name and image. He began selling the Trump name to a number of real-estate developments that he didn’t build himself. According to Forbes, Trump’s real-estate licensing business, with more than 30 licensed properties worldwide, is among his most valuable assets, which it estimates as being worth more than $500 million.
Trump has also affixed his brand to a wide range of businesses, including the real-estate-related, though ill-timed Trump Mortgage, which closed in 2007. Beyond real estate, he has opened eateries such as Trump Buffet, Trump Catering, Trump Ice Cream Parlor and the Trump Bar. He has also, at one time or another, launched a Trump-branded clothing line, a fragrance, an array of food and beverage products and countless other businesses. (For an in-depth look at Trump’s businesses, see: The Companies Donald Trump Owns.)
Donald Trump Quotes On Success
Donald Trump, or "The Donald" as he is popularly known, has said many memorable things. The newly elected president’s comments on Muslims, women and current affairs events have stirred controversy and criticism. Here is a selection of his more noteworthy and thoughtful words on success in business.
“The more predictable the business, the more valuable it is.” Trump on valuing known quantities more than speculative schemes.
“Success comes from failure, not from memorizing the right answers.” Trump on the irreplaceable value of real-life experience, even negative ones, in an education.
“Get going. Move forward. Aim High. Plan a takeoff. Don't just sit on the runway and hope someone will come along and push the airplane. It simply won't happen. Change your attitude and gain some altitude. Believe me, you'll love it up here.” Trump on taking initiative and positive thinking. 
“What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate.” Trump on the constant tests that life provides. “Remember there’s no such thing as an unrealistic goal, just unrealistic time frames.” Trump on how he views the collision of grand ambitions and real-life obstacles. 
“Watch, listen, and learn. You can’t know it all yourself. Anyone who thinks they do is destined for mediocrity.” Trump on remaining open to new information.
The Bottom Line
Donald Trump's brash and colorful style and comments propelled him from the business world to the general public's eye. His 1987 book, “The Art of the Deal,” captured the exuberant, materialistic spirit of the 1980s, and spent almost a full year on bestseller lists. The book, co-written by Tony Schwartz gave the public an insight into Trump's business philosophies and cemented Trump's success. (For related reading, see: This Is How Donald Trump Became Rich). By 1991, however, bankruptcy forced Trump to sell his Trump Shuttle airline, his 282-foot yacht, the Trump Princess, and also hand over large portions of his casino holdings. However, in the mid-90s, the fortunes of the family business had begun to turn around. Trump rejoined the Forbes 400 list in 1996, after a six-year absence. In 1996, Trump also re-entered the public eye, buying the rights to the Miss America pageant. His profile rose higher when he began his starring role on "The Apprentice" in 2004, with millions tuning in to watch Trump fire aspiring executives. In addition to real estate and casinos, Trump has branched out into a seemingly endless number of businesses, with Trump-branded apparel, education, athletic events such as the Tour de Trump and even a board game. In 2015, Trump publicly announced that he would run for the presidency of the United States as a Republican. (For more, see: An America With Donald Trump President.) He won the hotly contested election on November 9th, beating Democratic nominee and former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.    — Investopedia 

Donald Trumps success story

His parents raised their large family in a two-story mock-Tudor home in Jamaica Estates, Queens. As a child, Donald went to Kew-Forest School in Forest Hills, Queens, a private school at which Fred was on the Board of Trustees. At an early age, Donald began getting into trouble. In the second grade I actually gave a teacher a black eyeI punched my music teacher because I didnt think he knew anything about music and I almost got expelled, Trump would later recall. Worried about his sons apparent lack of discipline, Fred moved Donald to the New York Military Academy in upstate Cornwall, New York at the start of the eighth grade. Donald would remain there throughout high school. He graduated with the rank of cadet captain, and later credited the school as the place where he learned to channel aggression into achievement. On holidays and summers as a teenager, Donald followed Fred around to building sites in Brooklyn, where his father would routinely outbuild and buy out his rivals. My father would start a building in, say, Flatbush, at the same time that two competitors began putting up their own buildings nearby. Invariably, my father would finish his building three or four months before his competitors did. His building would always be a little better-looking than the other two, with a nicer, more spacious lobby and larger rooms in the apartments themselves, Trump stated. Eventually, one or both of his competitors would go bankrupt before theyd finish their buildings, and my father would step in and buy them out, he added. Following high school, Trump attended Fordham University in the Bronx. After two years, he transferred to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, which offered, at the time, one of the only real-estate studies departments in the country. He graduated with a B.S. in economics in 1968. While in school, Donald worked for his father part-time, coming on officially once hed graduated. Those years were an education for the young man. One of the primary lessons he learned concerned the psychology of the real-estate business. His fathers building projects were keyed into the aspirational mindset of the American people, catering to working-class people who wanted to be middle class. He offered a sense of elevation and refinement through large lobbies, sophisticated-looking facades and English names for his apartment buildings, such as Wexford Hall, Sussex Hall, and Edgerton. The early heir-apparent seemed to be firstborn son Freddy Jr., but he took little interest in the business and died tragically young. Donald, however, took to the real estate firm with relish, working with his father on deals in Starrett City, Brooklyn, and Forest Hills, Queens. Then the young man was ready to try his hand in Manhattan. (For related reading, see also: The Irreplaceable Brand of Donald Trump.) Donald Trump had been around his father Freds real-estate company, Elizabeth Trump and Son, for most of his life. But when he graduated college in 1968, at 22, he began working there full-time. After a few years working directly with his father, Fred, Donald took control of the company in 1971, renaming it The Trump Organization. His fathers business focused on building and renting mid-market apartments in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, New York; however, when he took over, he set his sights on Manhattan. Donald immediately sought out building projects that were larger and carried higher profiles than his fathers outer-borough apartment blocks. Fred was reluctant at first but eventually backed Donalds projects in the heart of the Big Apple. Donald used the tools and tricks that hed learned at his fathers side, having inherited Freds eye for distressed real-estate gems. And with the entirety of New York City sliding toward bankruptcy in the early 70s, there were more than a few such gems for the having. Trumps biggest early deal was rescuing the once-grand Commodore Hotel from bankruptcy and transforming it into the Grand Hyatt. He opened the refurbished hotel in 1980, with the help of a 40-year tax abatement from the City of New York. In 1983, Trump put his stamp on the city with his 68-story Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan. The mixed-use skyscraper featured the black glass surfaces and brass trimmings that would mark all too many of his later buildings. The building captured the aesthetic of many baby boomers who were coming into money for the first time during the economic boom of the 1980s. Around this time, Trump began to use his successes as a developer to dip his toe into politics. He made his first such splash with the renovation of Wollman Rink in Central Park. The fixes had begun in 1980 but were more or less in limbo by 1986. Trump publicly lambasted the inefficiency of the governmental agencies in charge of the renovation, starting a war of words with then-Mayor Ed Koch. As part of the argument, Trump offered to complete the renovation himself, for free. He finished in three months, for well below the citys budget and to the satisfaction of most, proving his point. His building projects and persona placed Trump squarely in the public eye. And in 1987, he capitalized on his newfound fame with a business book entitled The Art of the Deal, which spent 52-weeks on bestseller lists. Flush with success, Trump moved into the gaming business, buying the Taj Mahal Casino. But the move proved one gamble too many, and by 1989 Trump was in more debt than he could make the payments on. He kept afloat by taking on more loans until 1991. With bankruptcy looming, Trumps creditors agreed to restructure his debt, taking half-ownership of the casino. The agreement also forced Trump to sell his airline, the Trump Shuttle airline, and his 282-foot Trump Princess yacht. (For more, see: How Donald Trump Survived Near Bankruptcy.) From this nadir, Trump gradually restored The Trump Organizations finances. One of the deals that helped him do so involved 40 Wall Street, a 70-story tower in downtown Manhattan, originally known as the Bank of Manhattan Trust building. Trump bought the building for between $1 million and $10 million in 1995 and renovated it. He would later take out a $160 million mortgage on the building to finance other investments. By 2006, Forbes put a $260 million price tag on the property. In 1999, when patriarch Fred Trump died, he left behind a handsome estate valued at between $250-$300 million. However, the exact amount Donald Trump inherited is unknown. As the century turned, Donald Trump continued to buy and construct Manhattan real estate. In 2001, he completed the 72-story Trump World Tower, across the avenue from the United Nations building, and began construction on Trump Place, a series of luxury high-rises along the Hudson River. Another bold move that paid off was Trumps $73-million purchase of the Chicago Sun-Times building. In its place, he planned to build the tallest building in the world, Trump International Tower, Chicago. But the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks convinced him to scale back, ultimately building the second-tallest tower in Chicago. Since it opened in 2009, the tower has been a success, especially the hotel at that location, which is regularly ranked as one of the best in the country. Trumps career as a public figure, which had shrunk significantly following his near-bankruptcy in the early 90s was revived after he hosted a reality TV show called The Apprentice in 2003. The NBC show, in which contestants vied for a management job in one of Trumps companies, was a big hit. According to some reports, Trump received $3 million per episode of the show. In his July 2015 Federal Election Commission disclosures, Trump stated that NBC had paid him $214 million for hosting and producing the show over the previous 14 seasons. His newly refurbished fame was an opportunity for Trump to begin licensing out his name and image. He began selling the Trump name to a number of real-estate developments that he didnt build himself. According to Forbes, Trumps real-estate licensing business, with more than 30 licensed properties worldwide, is among his most valuable assets, which it estimates as being worth more than $500 million. Trump has also affixed his brand to a wide range of businesses, including the real-estate-related, though ill-timed Trump Mortgage, which closed in 2007. Beyond real estate, he has opened eateries such as Trump Buffet, Trump Catering, Trump Ice Cream Parlor and the Trump Bar. He has also, at one time or another, launched a Trump-branded clothing line, a fragrance, an array of food and beverage products and countless other businesses. (For an in-depth look at Trumps businesses, see: The Companies Donald Trump Owns.) Donald Trump Quotes On Success Donald Trump, or The Donald as he is popularly known, has said many memorable things. The newly elected presidents comments on Muslims, women and current affairs events have stirred controversy and criticism. Here is a selection of his more noteworthy and thoughtful words on success in business. The more predictable the business, the more valuable it is. Trump on valuing known quantities more than speculative schemes. Success comes from failure, not from memorizing the right answers. Trump on the irreplaceable value of real-life experience, even negative ones, in an education. Get going. Move forward. Aim High. Plan a takeoff. Dont just sit on the runway and hope someone will come along and push the airplane. It simply wont happen. Change your attitude and gain some altitude. Believe me, youll love it up here. Trump on taking initiative and positive thinking. What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate. Trump on the constant tests that life provides. Remember theres no such thing as an unrealistic goal, just unrealistic time frames. Trump on how he views the collision of grand ambitions and real-life obstacles. Watch, listen, and learn. You cant know it all yourself. Anyone who thinks they do is destined for mediocrity. Trump on remaining open to new information. The Bottom Line Donald Trumps brash and colorful style and comments propelled him from the business world to the general publics eye. His 1987 book, The Art of the Deal, captured the exuberant, materialistic spirit of the 1980s, and spent almost a full year on bestseller lists. The book, co-written by Tony Schwartz gave the public an insight into Trumps business philosophies and cemented Trumps success. (For related reading, see: This Is How Donald Trump Became Rich). By 1991, however, bankruptcy forced Trump to sell his Trump Shuttle airline, his 282-foot yacht, the Trump Princess, and also hand over large portions of his casino holdings. However, in the mid-90s, the fortunes of the family business had begun to turn around. Trump rejoined the Forbes 400 list in 1996, after a six-year absence. In 1996, Trump also re-entered the public eye, buying the rights to the Miss America pageant. His profile rose higher when he began his starring role on The Apprentice in 2004, with millions tuning in to watch Trump fire aspiring executives. In addition to real estate and casinos, Trump has branched out into a seemingly endless number of businesses, with Trump-branded apparel, education, athletic events such as the Tour de Trump and even a board game. In 2015, Trump publicly announced that he would run for the presidency of the United States as a Republican. (For more, see: An America With Donald Trump President.) He won the hotly contested election on November 9th, beating Democratic nominee and former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Investopedia