One of the points Donald Trump has made repeatedly in stump speeches throughout the primary season is that he can’t be bought, because, he says, he’s a mega billionaire who is self-funding his presidential campaign. (But of course he’s happy to take outside donations.) As both parties head into their conventions with an eye towards the general election, it appears that unless the presumptive Republican nominee is willing to sell his most valuable holdings, he has nowhere near enough cash to fulfill that promise.
How exactly could he be a billionaire but not have the cash to fund a campaign? Here’s why: Over 90% of Trump’s net worth –estimated by FORBES at $4.5 billion – is from relatively illiquid assets that include office buildings, resort properties and golf courses. President Obama and Mitt Romney each spent over $1 billion in their 2012 race to the White House (including money shelled out by their top Super PACs). Even Trump’s unsubstantiated claim of having an $800 million cash pile would not be enough to cover the sky-high costs. FORBES estimates that Trump has roughly $300 million in cash and liquid assets.
Trump isn’t the only billionaire on the FORBES list of the World’s Billionaires with more wealth tied up in illiquid assets than in cash and stocks. For plenty of billionaires who own private companies, like the Koch brothers’ Koch Industries, Michael Bloomberg’s financial data and media firm Bloomberg L.P., and the Mars family’s candy and pet food company Mars Inc., most of their net worth lies in the value of their companies, which they are not inclined to sell. However, FORBES estimates that Charles and David Koch, Mike Bloomberg and the Mars siblings have far more than $300 million in cash and liquid investments.
The latest Federal Election Commission filing reports that Trump only raised $3.1 million during May, ending the month with $1.3 million in cash on hand. To put that in perspective, Carly Fiorina, who dropped out of the race in February, reported having $930,000 in cash on May 31st, and Ben Carson, who called it quits in March, had $1.7 million. Rival Hillary Clinton, who finished out the month with a $42.5 million war chest, raised $20 million in May.
Despite his repeated pronouncement that he’s paying for the campaign costs by himself, Trump’s campaign has always accepted outside donations, raising $3.9 million from July to October 2015. As numerous high profile GOP members distanced themselves from Trump after his inflammatory remarks in the aftermath of the Orlando shooting, Trump reiterated his commitment to do it on his own. “I spent $55 million of my own money to win the primaries—55. That’s a lot of money by even any standard,” The Donald told NBC’s Today show this week. “I may do that again in the general election.”
Yet Trump seems reluctant to touch his prized real estate portfolio, telling MSNBC in early May that he has yet to make a decision on how much he’s willing to give up to foot his campaign bills. “I mean, do I want to sell a couple of buildings and self-fund?,” Trump says, “I don’t know that I want to do that necessarily, but I really won’t be asking for money for myself, I’ll be asking money for the party.”
Fellow billionaire Mark Cuban has called out the flamboyant candidate in a series of tweets on Tuesday, writing “if @realDonaldTrump were fractionally as rich as he says he is, he would write a $200mm check to propel his campaign. He doesn't have the cash”. The Shark Tank investor also predicted that Trump will have to pander to his donors. “The real fun/drama will come from all the ‘hidden’ videos from his private fundraisers. He will say what they want to hear,” continued Cuban.
Even if Trump were willing to entirely self-fund the rest of the way, the illiquid nature of his wealth - composed mostly of multi-million dollar real estate holdings - would make it difficult for him to raise cash quickly. With a joint-fundraising agreement with the Republican National Committee in hand, it looks like Trump is more likely to backtrack on his earlier promises than put a for sale sign in front of Trump Tower.
