I hope you had a good holiday weekend. I learned that a package of 20 glow-sticks from the local Dollar Store is perhaps the best use of 100 cents possible when you have a one year old and a two year old.
This article is probably a little late. However, I couldn’t let the topic die without writing something on it. The first paragraph on this Gawker article (warning: strong language) summed it up really well. The list of companies kicking Trump to the curb is growing everyday. The only question is why it took so long.
(The only mistake the Gawker article made is that Outsourced was a good show and one that many of my Indian friends enjoyed. It made more fun of Americans and how they react when they are in an unfamiliar environment.)
The question is what did anyone expect from Donald Trump? He’s acted how he’s always acted. His comments about Rosie O’Donnell a few years back were actually quite reflective on how he represented himself recently.
For some strange reason, people have considered him a credible source of financial information. Wikipedia cites four of businesses that have filed for bankruptcy. It looks like there was a personal bankruptcy in play as well.
He wrote Why We Want You to Be Rich with Robert Kiyosaki. When it came out, many personal finance bloggers rushed to read and review it. However the reviews of the book were horrible.
It isn’t surprising.
Kiyosaki and Trump are often considered the two biggest supporters of Multi-Level Marketing. The MLM people say, “Kiyosaki and Trump say it is it the future.” They don’t know about Robert Kiyosaki and MLM. Kiyosaki is a failed Amway distributor who got on the best seller list because the organization pushed his book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. While many (including myself) find the book inspirational, there’s not many actionable steps outlined in the book. The fact that he’s against 401Ks and for putting his five-figure training seminars on credit cards seems to speak volumes.
However, Trump took it to another level, which I covered here: MLM and Donald Trump. He licensed his name to an MLM company. People with more information than I have reported that the company paid steep royalties on the Trump name and it became a liability to the company before it was sold for pennies on the dollar.
Neither Kiyosaki or Trump have successfully put their money where their mouth is to become a successful MLM distributor. They know that there’s no gold in those hills. Instead, they are happy to tell the story of the riches there while selling shovels and maps to anyone and everyone.
I think Trump may be finally hitting his Charlie Sheen moment… except that it is even worse. I think this closes the book on Trump in my eyes. I hope that mainstream media agrees and starts giving attention to people who deserve it.
P.S. For those wondering if this is about politics, it isn’t. It is about racial equality. It is about not trying to give terrible advice which makes them poorer in an attempt to sell material to make yourself richer. It isn’t Republicans vs. Democrats.