The former US president, Donald Trump, has been cut off from the list of America’s richest people as he failed to meet up with the required amount and assets.
Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, topped the list for the fourth consecutive year with an estimated fortune of $177bn (£129bn).
Followed by Tesla chief, Elon Musk, with $151bn (£110bn), Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg with $134bn (£98bn), and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates also with $134bn.
The 75-year-old ex-President has an estimated worth of $2.5bn (£1.8bn) but this was not enough to get him on the list of America’s richest people.
Even though he is estimated to have $2.5bn, he is still short of $400m to make it to the list of 400 America’s richest people.
According to news reports, the former president was just as wealthy as he was last year. He was said to have dropped to $600m (£440m) since COVID-19 started.
“If Trump is looking for someone to blame, he can start with himself.
“Five years ago, he had a golden opportunity to diversify his fortune. Fresh off the 2016 election, federal ethics officials were pushing Trump to divest his real estate assets.
“That would have allowed him to reinvest the proceeds into broad-based index funds and assume office free of conflicts of interest… Trump decided to hang onto his assets,” FORBES stated.
Forbes also stated that the decision made by the former president cost him almost $2bn (£1.4bn).
The source claimed Trump’s exact amount of assets is yet to be ascertained simply because he refused to release his tax returns when he entered the presidential office.
It said he appeared to have paid off none of the principal of the mortgage for Trump Tower, with the full $100m coming due in 2022.
He was also facing a possible bill of more than $100m if he lost a dispute with the US’ tax authority over a refund in 2010, the newspaper reported, adding: “He appears to be responsible for loans totalling $421m, most of which is coming due within four years.”
Recall the former president was a former host of a reality show made for entrepreneurship, The Apprentice.
This has boosted his ego resulting in his attempt to run for the presidency which he won.
Trump’s original wealth came from inheriting a family real estate business from his father.
Trump has been in the list of America’s richest people for 25 years.
