How much is Trump worth?

A recent article by Alex Frangos in the Wall Street Journal begins, “It’s one of the great mysteries of the business world: How much is Donald Trump really worth?” That is a good question, but I’m not going to lose any sleep thinking about it. Chances are I’ll never meet Trump, and if I do I doubt his net worth will mean a Trump Tower full of beans to me. Regardless, people talk about such things. I guess Trump’s worth is worth pondering.

As discussed in Frangos’ article, a 2005 book by Timothy O’Brien suggested Trump’s net worth was between $150 million and $250 million. The Deutsche Bank said it was $788 million. Trump throws around different figures ranging from $3.6 billion to $6 billion. That’s quite a range, but who’s counting? Trump’s lowest projection, $3.6 billion, is a far cry from O’Brien’s highest estimate, $250 million. Now someone is flat-out wrong, but again, who’s counting?

There must be a reason investors pay “the Trump” millions of dollars to put his name on their properties. It is probably the same reason NBC chose Trump to star in The Apprentice rather than Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Yes, it is the same reason marketers prefer Trump’s face to any other toupee-sporting man. Trump has brand value. Quantifying that value is difficult, so I don’t see any problem reaching into the air and grabbing the first number that sounds impressive. We should expect Trump to do just that – until someone figures out how to tax brand value.

I shouldn’t compare myself to Trump — or anyone for that matter — especially not in the realm of financial net worth. If we are in a race for boys with the most toys, then he wins hands down.

I like thinking about life as a race. There is a starting line; let’s say when we were born; a finish line; when we die; and, everything in between. Since I’m writing this post and you are reading it, we are both in the “in between.” We are somewhere along the race of life, heading toward the finish line. I don’t think it matters who reaches the finish line first. If it did, the cavemen beat us. I don’t even think our financial net worth at the finish line matters one bit; although, I would like to throw a huge party outdoors with a live band and free drinks at my funeral. If I had Trump’s money, I could do that. I could even invite Rosie O’Donnell and offer to fly her in on my private jet.

If finishing first and finishing with the most toys aren’t important, then what is?

I think it has something to do with recognizing and making the most of your worth – not your financial worth, but your worth as a human being made in the image of God. Quantifying that worth is one of the great mysteries of all time, period.

Take bank statements, brokerage accounts, real-estate portfolios and intellectual property rights out of the picture. How much are you really worth as a human being?

The answer is innumerable. You are worth so much that there exists no number to quantify your value. You haven’t done anything to earn your value. You haven’t worked for it at all. God gave it to you, out of his common grace, when he made you. He made you different than the rest of creation. God made you in his image.

We should love Trump, not because his brand value can help us generate sales, but because his worth is the same as ours; he too is made in the image of God.

If I could meet Trump, I’d give him one message: “You’re wrong!” I’d then tell him he underestimated his worth.

How much is Trump worth?

$6 billion is too small. So is $6 trillion. Trump is worth so much that God himself came to earth and died in his place. Jesus Christ offered to free Trump from his spiritual creditors by paying his spiritual debt inherited at conception.

I hope Trump knows his estimates are way too low. May Trump claim innumerable worth, knowing he is made in the image of God and believing that Jesus Christ has paid his spiritual debt.