{"slug":"trump-pre-presidency-casino-failures-bankruptcy","title":"Atlantic City Casinos: Six Bankruptcies, Bondholders Wiped Out, Workers Unpaid","date":"1991-07-17","lastUpdated":"2016-09-26","description":"Donald Trump's Atlantic City casino empire went through six bankruptcies between 1991 and 2009. The Trump Taj Mahal (opened 1990), Trump Plaza (1992), Trump Castle (1992), Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (2004), and Trump Entertainment Resorts (2009) all filed for bankruptcy protection. In each case, bondholders and creditors took substantial losses or were wiped out. Trump personally retained a stake and his management fees through most of the bankruptcies while outside investors bore the losses. Casino employees, contractors, and the Atlantic City economy suffered through closures and layoffs.","summary":"Trump's Atlantic City casinos were overleveraged from the beginning: the Taj Mahal alone carried $675 million in junk bonds at 14% interest when it opened in 1990. When revenue fell short of the debt service requirements, bankruptcy followed. Through six rounds of bankruptcy, Trump negotiated deals that preserved his equity stake or management role while bondholders received cents on the dollar. He personally profited $82 million in salary and fees from the casinos between 1995 and 2009 while publicly traded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts lost $1.4 billion. Trump repeatedly characterized the bankruptcies as strategic use of 'the laws of this country' and claimed he had made 'a lot of money' on Atlantic City.","category":"corruption","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/11/nyregion/donald-trump-atlantic-city.html","title":"Donald Trump's Business Plan Left a Trail of Unpaid Bills","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-atlantic-city-legacy-shuttered-casinos-empty-lots/2016/09/26/ce58e018-8203-11e6-b002-307601806392_story.html","title":"Trump's Atlantic City legacy: Shuttered casinos, empty lots","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/trump-atlantic-city-casinos-bankruptcy","title":"A history of Trump's casino bankruptcies","publisher":"The Associated Press"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Atlantic-City","bankruptcy","casinos","pre-presidency","financial","investors","fraud"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"1990-04-02","title":"Taj Mahal opens — $675M in junk bonds","summary":"Trump Taj Mahal opens as the world's largest casino. It carries $675 million in junk bonds at 14% interest. Financial analysts note the debt service exceeds projected revenue."},{"date":"1991-07-17","title":"Taj Mahal files Chapter 11","summary":"15 months after opening, the Taj Mahal files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Trump gives up 50% equity to bondholders in exchange for debt restructuring. It is Trump's first major bankruptcy."},{"date":"1992-01-01","title":"Trump Plaza and Trump Castle file for bankruptcy","summary":"Two additional Atlantic City Trump properties file for bankruptcy protection within months of the Taj filing. Multiple creditors take losses."},{"date":"1995-06-01","title":"Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts IPO — $14/share","summary":"Trump takes the casino operation public at $14/share, raising $140 million. The stock will decline 89% before the company's 2004 bankruptcy. Trump extracts management fees and salary throughout."},{"date":"2004-11-21","title":"Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts — fourth bankruptcy","summary":"The publicly traded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts files for Chapter 11 for the fourth time. Bondholders take further losses. Trump retains a reduced equity stake."},{"date":"2009-02-17","title":"Trump Entertainment Resorts — sixth bankruptcy","summary":"The restructured entity files for bankruptcy again during the financial crisis — the sixth bankruptcy of the Atlantic City operations. Trump eventually loses his remaining stake."},{"date":"2016-10-10","title":"Taj Mahal closes permanently","summary":"The Trump Taj Mahal closes permanently, ending Trump's Atlantic City presence. Thousands of workers lose jobs. Atlantic City's downtown has multiple empty casino properties."}],"location":{"name":"Atlantic City, NJ","lat":39.3643,"lng":-74.4229},"custom":{"era":"pre-presidency","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Bondholders and investors who lost hundreds of millions; Atlantic City workers who lost jobs in casino closures; small contractors who were not paid; the Atlantic City economy","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"Primary owner/operator; extracted management fees and salary while investors bore losses through six bankruptcies; framed serial bankruptcy as financial acumen","institution":"Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts / Trump Entertainment Resorts"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2016-09-26","summary":"Documented during 2016 campaign reporting."}]}}