The net worth of U.S. President Donald Trump has slipped, dropping by $1 billion according to Forbes' latest list of the richest people in 2017.
Released on Monday, March 20, Forbes' new world's billionaires list estimates that Trump's net worth has dropped from $4.5 billion in 2016 to $3.5 billion this year. This $1 billion decline also translates to a considerable drop down the list, as Trump fell from the No. 336 spot last year to No. 544 this year. In other words, Trump dropped 208 spots in Forbes' latest billionaires list.
Donald Trump Net Worth
Trump stepped down from his businesses upon assuming his presidential role, but this net worth decline is not associated with this move because Trump still owns those businesses.
Instead, the decline in Trump's net worth is largely attributed to the swings of the real estate market. The real estate properties Trump owns in Midtown Manhattan, including the Trump Tower and eight other buildings, amount to roughly 40 percent of his fortune. As Forbes points out, a decline in Midtown Manhattan real estate automatically translated to a decline in Trump's wealth.
"Although the Trump name now extends around the world, the core of the president's fortune remains tied to a handful of buildings in midtown Manhattan in New York City," notes Forbes. "He got his start working with his father Fred, who developed low-cost housing in Brooklyn and Queens."
Trump has argued against Forbes' estimates several times in the past, especially when it comes to his brand worth that's harder to value than real estate. In a personal financial disclosure form last year, Trump said his net worth was more than $10 billion.
Forbes, in turn, notes that Trump has a long history of trying to inflate his Forbes valuation and decades ago editors even joked about having a "Trump rule" when assessing Trump's net worth - consider the amount Trump claims and then divide it by three to get the real worth.
2017 Forbes Billionaires List
As for the rest of the list, Forbes says that it was a record year for wealthy people, as the number of billionaires saw a 13 percent surge from 1,810 to 2,043. This marks the first time that Forbes' list tops 2,000 people with 10-figure fortunes. Forbes attributes this surge partly to higher commodity prices and rising stock markets.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates is at the very top of the list for the fourth year in a row and the world's richest person for 18 out of the last 23 years. Gates' fortune increased by $11 bullion to a total of $86 billion in the latest list. Investor Warren Buffett ranked second and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos ranked third.
Rounding up the top five are Amancio Ortega, the founder of clothing chain Zara, who ranked fourth, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who moved up to the fifth spot to reach the top five for the first time.
The United States still has more billionaires that any other country worldwide, but China is catching up. The United States has 565 billionaires (up from 540 last year), China has 319, Germany has 114, and India has 101.
