04 Jul Trump vs. Beauty Queen: Score One (Actually Five Million) for the Donald

My fellow Wharton School graduate Donald J. Trump, Jr. has won a big victory in a case brought against him by a contestant in the Miss USA contest in 2012. (Some of you know I was the Chair of Wharton’s worldwide alumni association for years). Miss Pennsylvania, Sheena Monnin, claimed she saw a list of the five finalists backstage before they had gotten down to that many. She walked out of the contest and told everyone on Facebook and the Today Show that the contest was rigged. Trump sued her. An arbitrator has now ruled she had no proof, never delivered the supposed list, and Monnin was told to pay Trump $5 million.

Trump is a hero to many, including this humble blogger. He took his father’s success and multiplied it dramatically, then lost everything, then rebuilt it. He did it with typical New York swagger, for good or bad. His name and brand were built brilliantly. I love when he battles the media over what his net worth is. He now has learned that owning real estate is much more risky than simply licensing his name to properties for royalties in exchange. Typical Trump: I had asked him to come speak at a NY Wharton alumni event six months after September 11. In the Q&A section, someone stood up and said, “Mr. Trump, I just bought an apartment in Battery Park right near the Trade Center site. What should I do?” Said Trump: “Move. That is unless you want to live in a construction zone for the next 10 years.” Of course he was right.

One more funny story. I negotiated with Trump’s now-famous lawyer George Ross for a Chinese client of mine to rent office space at 40 Wall St. The big moment: the signing ceremony with Mr. Trump. My client later sported a wonderful picture of himself and Trump in his office. When I told one of my client’s subordinates how cool it was to have a picture with Trump, he said, “Well, he never actually got to take a picture, so he photoshopped himself into a picture of Trump he found online.” That is the power of the Trump brand. Mr. Trump, I love your hair, your bravado, your awesome appearances on Howard Stern, your brilliant marketing mind and your success.