Heirs to the Trump throne: Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric – equally

From left: Donald Trump Jr., Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump
From left: Donald Trump Jr., Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump

Donald Trump isn’t losing any sleep over choosing which of his three oldest children will inherit his real estate empire: They all are. The brazen mogul-reality star intends for Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric – their mother is Ivana –  take over different aspects of the Trump Organization.

“My kids are treated very equally,” Trump, infamous for his bluster, told the Wall Street Journal. “I think, and I hope, for their own sake, that they’ll be able to get along…It’s not a deal where there’s going to be one person succeeding me.”

Ivanka, for example, has been the lead negotiator on many of the company’s biggest deals, such as the $150 million acquisition of the Doral golf resort in Miami and the $48 million debt buy at the 92-story Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago. Big brother Donald Jr., is drawn toward leasing; Eric, the youngest of the three, is all about construction.

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Trump’s decision to have more than one heir would be unusual in an industry where ordinarily only one child is tapped or steps up to run a family’s business. Notable examples include Douglas Durst, who took over for father Seymour, and Bill Rudin, who succeeded father Lewis.

“In real estate it’s usually one person,” William Zabel, a founding partner of the law firm Schulte Roth & Zabel, told the Journal. “You have to give one of them the mantle and hope that it works.”

A handful of dynasties, such as the mighty Feil Organization, are going through succession battles; others, such as Rockrose Development and TF Cornerstone, made the decision to split to avoid a family feud. Trump,too, acknowledged the potential for tension, telling the newspaper that “succession is usually a disaster, whether it’s because of jealousy or something else.”
[WSJ]Hiten Samtani