According to his financial-disclosure paperwork, which was released on Wednesday by federal election officials, his 16 golf-related businesses are worth $550 million to $675 million. This is based on Donald's net worth, which the filing said was at least $1.15 billion, and which Trump himself says is about $10 billion.
According to a report by Yahoo News, experts say that there's plenty of reasons to disqualify Trump from the elections, particularly because of the way he values his golf courses. Many golf course appraisers have also revealed that the values Trump sets on his courses can be compared to calling a frequent mulligan during a game.
Golf courses should be worth 1 to 1.5 times their annual revenue as this is an industry rule-of-thumb, Yahoo news added.
Trump claimed that his combined revenue is less than $160 million, excluding the Miami resort--which doesn't break out golf-related revenue--and land sales at the Los Angeles property.
CNBC news reported that Trump assumes that he has multiplied the value of his clubs once he has poured money into renovations. It was seen as a common element in many of Trump's golf valuations, one of the appraisers said.
Larry Hirsh, founder of the Society of Golf Appraisers and President of Golf Property Analysts in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, compared the golf courses to brand new cars. He stated in the CNBC report that, "(if) you drive them off the lot...they're worth half as much."
CNBC added that Buddie Johnson, an Arizona-based golf course developer and appraiser, have said that "(s)tacking it up against the universe of other golf course sales, he is kind of off the charts. Anyone can say anything ... such is his verbosity that when he talks about the valuation of his golf clubs he talks louder than anyone else, and he thinks that makes it true."
The disclosures are still not complete enough to estimate the exact value, but it has been noted that the revenue provides a ballpark, though not as precise enough.
