The estimates of Trump’s net worth are much less reliable than most net worth estimates. For example, a big chunk of his net worth is now in meme coins. They tend to calculate his net worth by saying each coin is priced at $X and he has Y coins, so his net worth is $X*Y. But, the second he starts trying to sell those shitcoins, the price will plummet. There’s nothing backing those shitcoins, there’s no real demand for them. People are only holding onto them because they think maybe other people will believe they’re valuable. If Trump sells them, the game is up and everyone knows they’re worthless, so the true value of what he owns in coins is a tiny fraction of that.
People have been trying to bribe him in various ways. But, again, that’s often through crypto, so it’s not like real money you can spend. Most of his net worth used to be in the supposed value of having his name on various properties. He didn’t own the building, but he’d slap “Trump” on it and collect royalties. But, right now, for most of the world slapping “Trump” on something decreases its value.
People who are rich via huge amounts of stock in a company they started are sort-of in a similar boat, but to a lesser extent. Elon Musk is worth, on paper, nearly $1 trillion. But, that’s due to comically ridiculous overvaluations of Space X and Tesla. He can sell a bit of his stock without triggering a massive sell-off. But, if he wanted to sell every share he owns and convert his money into cold hard cash, he could only get a small fraction of $1T because selling off big amounts of his companies would cause other people to sell off too, and the value would tank. In the mean time though, he can still go to a bank and borrow money against the supposed value of his shares. That’s something Trump can’t do because banks have realized that he can’t be trusted to repay his loans, so they won’t loan him money.
So, Trump could pay off this $5m judgment, but not without it seriously taking a bite out of his actual, liquid net worth. I’m sure a lot of the reason he’s refusing to pay is that he doesn’t want to, or doesn’t want to set a precedent, or just likes getting away with not paying his bills. But, another reason is that for him $5m really is a lot of money because his supposed billionaire status is with a lot of asterisks.
The estimates of Trump’s net worth are much less reliable than most net worth estimates. For example, a big chunk of his net worth is now in meme coins. They tend to calculate his net worth by saying each coin is priced at $X and he has Y coins, so his net worth is $X*Y. But, the second he starts trying to sell those shitcoins, the price will plummet. There’s nothing backing those shitcoins, there’s no real demand for them. People are only holding onto them because they think maybe other people will believe they’re valuable. If Trump sells them, the game is up and everyone knows they’re worthless, so the true value of what he owns in coins is a tiny fraction of that.
People have been trying to bribe him in various ways. But, again, that’s often through crypto, so it’s not like real money you can spend. Most of his net worth used to be in the supposed value of having his name on various properties. He didn’t own the building, but he’d slap “Trump” on it and collect royalties. But, right now, for most of the world slapping “Trump” on something decreases its value.
People who are rich via huge amounts of stock in a company they started are sort-of in a similar boat, but to a lesser extent. Elon Musk is worth, on paper, nearly $1 trillion. But, that’s due to comically ridiculous overvaluations of Space X and Tesla. He can sell a bit of his stock without triggering a massive sell-off. But, if he wanted to sell every share he owns and convert his money into cold hard cash, he could only get a small fraction of $1T because selling off big amounts of his companies would cause other people to sell off too, and the value would tank. In the mean time though, he can still go to a bank and borrow money against the supposed value of his shares. That’s something Trump can’t do because banks have realized that he can’t be trusted to repay his loans, so they won’t loan him money.
So, Trump could pay off this $5m judgment, but not without it seriously taking a bite out of his actual, liquid net worth. I’m sure a lot of the reason he’s refusing to pay is that he doesn’t want to, or doesn’t want to set a precedent, or just likes getting away with not paying his bills. But, another reason is that for him $5m really is a lot of money because his supposed billionaire status is with a lot of asterisks.