Business career of Donald Trump

This article is part of a series about Donald Trump
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Before running for office in 2015, 45th president of the United States and the current President-Elect Donald Trump pursued a career as a businessman, with a focus on renovating skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. His extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner, and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have made him a well-known public figure in American life for nearly half a century.

Trump began his career at his father's real estate company, Trump Management, in 1968 which he took over in 1971 and later renamed the Trump Organization in 1973. He expanded its business to Manhattan, where his father's financial and political backing enabled him to do his first deals, demolishing and renovating landmark buildings. Trump entered various businesses that did not require capital funding, including licensing his name to lodging and golf course enterprises around the world. Building on his public persona in the New York tabloid press, he later starred in the reality TV show The Apprentice.

Trump partly or completely owned several beauty pageants between 1996 and 2015. He has marketed his name to many building projects and commercial products. Trump's unsuccessful business ventures have included numerous casinos and hotel bankruptcies, the folding of his New Jersey Generals football team, and the now-defunct Trump University. He and his businesses have been involved in more than 4,000 legal actions, including six business bankruptcies.

After winning the 2016 presidential election and being inaugurated the first time in January 2017, Trump resigned all management roles within the Trump Organization and moved his business assets into a revocable trust managed by his sons Donald Jr. and Eric.^[1] However, Trump retained his financial stake in the work document, which led to concerns about possible conflicts of interest.^{[2][needs update]}