Billionaire Donald Trump is the proud endorser of ACN,a,multinational telecommunications company that has been regularly accused of being a scam. Many have questioned Trump’s reasoning for endorsing ACN, believing his motives are purely monetary. Is Trump really so obsessed with money that he is willing to endorse anything for the right price?
Let’s look at the facts. Trump is one of the richest men in America today. His businesses seem to be performing well, and his television career also seems flourishing. There is little to suggest that Trump is in a financial rut, and is struggling to pay his bills. If this were the case, then yes, it would be easy to believe that Trump is only endorsing ACN for the money.
ACN have recently reported revenues of half a billion dollars, which implies that they do have sufficient funds to pay Trump a large figure. The amount received by Trump from ACN is undisclosed. Trump reportedly received $1.5 million for a one hour presentation for The Learning Annex. Based on this, and the level of endorsement Trump has given ACN, it is estimated that he will be receiving roughly $14 million. Whilst this is a large sum of money, to Donald Trump it is probably not a substantial amount. It is probably not a large enough sum to fully endorse a business purely for monetary gain.
Trump is a man with business integrity. In his 1987 book “The Art of the Deal”, Trump writes: “I don’t do it for the money (make business deals). I’ve got enough, much more than I’ll ever need. I do it to do it”, a phrase which he still stands by today. If it were discovered that Trump is only endorsing ACN for the money, and he doesn’t really “love everything about ACN”, then this could negatively affect his image, and his credibility. To go back on such a strong statement would give him the image of a sell-out, and could affect future deals.
So Trump isn’t endorsing for the money. What about for an image boost, and increased media interest? Perhaps Trump really does believe in the ACN dream? There are many reasons Donald Trump could be endorsing ACN, but I’m fairly certain money is not the reason.