(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump’s lawyers are on a mission to wipe out his biggest financial liability — a nearly half-billion dollar fraud verdict that’s soaring by about $100,000 every day.
Lawyers for the Republican presidential nominee will ask a New York appeals court Thursday to throw out the $454 million verdict handed down in February. They argue the claims were filed too late and that the “massive” penalty violates constitutional guarantees against excessive punishments.
The fight, just six weeks before Election Day, is playing out as Trump’s wealth has fluctuated wildly amid the rise and fall of his social media startup. His majority stake in Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. added billions to his net worth earlier this year and created a potential source of cash to pay the fraud penalty. But that windfall has shrunk as the stock has collapsed.
A decision by the Manhattan appellate court isn’t expected before the Nov. 5 election and could take several months. If Trump loses, he can take the case to New York’s highest court and, if necessary, to the US Supreme Court— though doing so could drag out a final decision until 2026.
The appeal is a financial gamble. The verdict, in a suit brought by New York’s attorney general, has accumulated about $23 million in interest costs during Trump’s challenge, bringing the total he owes to roughly $477 million. Further time-consuming appeals could add to that sum.
“We are confident that a fair hearing on the merits of this case will result in a total dismissal of the unconstitutional, unlawful judgment,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
The verdict was the biggest liability listed on Trump’s financial disclosure form filed Aug. 13 with the US Office of Government Ethics. It far exceeds his other big debts, including a $160 million Ladder Capital Finance LLC mortgage for his 40 Wall Street skyscraper, and a pair of Axos Bank mortgages totaling $225 million for Trump Tower and Trump National Doral golf course.
The penalty in the civil fraud case was handed down after a New York judge found Trump had exaggerated his wealth on annual financial documents for more than a decade to get better terms on loans. Trump, 78, denies wrongdoing.
Wealth Swings
The appeal hearing is refocusing attention on Trump’s shifting financial fortunes. His wealth has been driven this year by the share price of Trump Media, which immediately became his biggest asset when it debuted on public markets in March. Trump’s net worth soared by more than $4 billion to $6.5 billion, placing him on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranking of the world’s 500 richest people for the first time.
The value of Trump’s stake jumped again when he was granted more shares that were contingent on meeting certain price targets. By early May, Trump was worth $8.8 billion, making him the 293rd-richest person on the planet.
But most of that was on paper because Trump couldn’t sell his shares until the end of a lock-up period, which ended last week. The stock is now down about 80% from it’s high in late March.
Trump is now worth $4.1 billion, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index. He’s vowed not to sell his Trump Media shares, a pledge he kept through Monday, the earliest day such a move would be disclosed.
Trump’s stake is currently worth about $1.6 billion and he still can freely sell millions of shares or use them as collateral for loans. However, experts have pointed to thin trading volumes, potential volatility and regulatory restrictions around rapidly selling shares as a deterrent to Trump using the shares as collateral.
Trump Media shares, by some measures, have been more volatile than Bitcoin and meme stock GameStop Corp. Its 30-day realized volatility sits around 97, more than double Bitcoin’s reading and well above the likes of Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc.
Meanwhile, the billionaire is eying new income sources that could generate quick cash down the road, from $100 silver coins bearing his likeness to a crypto project that he has said will take on traditional banks.
Liabilities, Income
Trump faces other financial liabilities stemming from court decisions. Those include the $83.3 million verdict against Trump in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case, and a separate $5 million verdict in her sexual-abuse lawsuit. His total legal debts are close to $600 million.
The filing with US Office of Government Ethics, which covers Trump’s finances for 2023 and the first four months of 2024, also showed $513 million in income from US resort and residential properties including his Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster clubs. He also reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue from licensing his name and image to promote sales of the “God Bless the USA Bible.”
Additional income streamed in from Trump-branded items including high-top sneakers and non-fungible tokens. He also got about $500,000 from a photo book of his presidency.
Paying the verdict could be complicated if his appeal eventually fails because his real estate holdings are vast but illiquid. Earlier in the case, Trump said he had $400 million to $500 million in cash, but the appeal bond was lowered to $175 million after he said he didn’t have the resources to cover the full amount.
John Sauer, Trump’s appellate lawyer, will handle the oral arguments on Thursday. He’ll press Trump’s argument that there were no victims in New York’s civil case, and that banks made millions of dollars by loaning to him. Trump also said his financial statements included disclaimers advising banks to do their own appraisals.
“Every loan payment was made on time, and all the loans were repaid in full — some before they came due,” Trump’s lawyers said in a July appellate brief. “There were no victims and no losses.”
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