“Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war.”
— donald trump
Trump told this story dozens of times. The 1990s bankruptcies were real: Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza, Trump Castle. He lost casinos, an airline, a yacht. But instead of disappearing he renegotiated with every creditor and came back. By 2004 he launched The Apprentice and became a symbol of success again.
In 1990 I owed banks nine billion dollars. They came after me personally for nine hundred million. I was bankrupt. Not figuratively. Literally. Casinos, airline, yacht, hotels, everything was going under. The bankers wanted to destroy me. I walked into a room with thirty creditors and told them: if you crush me, you get nothing. If you give me time, I will pay everything back. They gave me time. Ten years later I was worth more than before the bankruptcy. Not because I got lucky. Because I refused to quit. Every morning I got up and went to work while all of New York laughed at me.