Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
How did the 2009 bankruptcy of Trump Entertainment Resorts influence Donald Trump’s income and stock holdings?
Executive summary
Donald Trump’s connection to Trump Entertainment Resorts (TER) was largely reduced before the company’s 2009 Chapter 11 filing; reporting and corporate histories say TER filed in February 2009 with roughly $1.2–$1.74 billion in debts and that Trump resigned from the board and cut his stake to a minority interest around that time [1] [2] [3]. Available sources say the 2009 bankruptcy mainly affected TER’s corporate creditors and shareholders — not direct, personal bankruptcy for Donald Trump — and that his personal income and other holdings were insulated because these were corporate Chapter 11 filings and he had already reduced his ownership and board role [1] [3] [4].
1. What happened in 2009: TER’s second major collapse
Trump Entertainment Resorts filed for Chapter 11 in February 2009 after years of losses; some accounts put the company’s obligations in the $1.2 billion range while other summaries cite higher figures (e.g., ~$1.74 billion) reflecting different measures of liabilities and affiliated debts [1] [2]. Academic and court-focused case collections show a complex bankruptcy docket with reorganization plans and creditor proposals, indicating that the company sought to restructure rather than liquidate immediately [5] [6].
2. Trump’s role at the time: stepping back from the company
Multiple reports say Donald Trump resigned from TER’s board in February 2009 and had already been less active in running the enterprise for years; Forbes and other retrospective coverage note he reduced his corporate stake substantially — to roughly a minority (Forbes reports a reduction to about 10% in one summary) — before or concurrent with the 2009 proceedings [3] [4]. CNBC’s later reporting on the 2014 TER filing also repeats that Trump and Ivanka resigned from the board in 2009, with Trump distancing himself from operational control [7].
3. Impact on Trump’s personal income: not a personal bankruptcy event in the record
Available reporting frames the 2009 event as a corporate Chapter 11, which reorganized the company’s debts and equity; such filings generally affect the company’s balance sheet, creditors and public shareholders rather than directly stripping a person’s unrelated income streams. Sources repeatedly characterize the 2009 filing as corporate and note Trump had already reduced his stake and role, implying limited direct effect on unrelated personal income — but none of the provided sources quantify how much Trump’s personal earnings changed because of the 2009 TER bankruptcy [1] [4] [3]. Therefore: available sources do not mention precise changes in Donald Trump’s overall personal income tied to the 2009 filing [1] [3].
4. Effect on Trump’s TER stock holdings and shareholder value
When TER entered bankruptcy, shareholders typically lose much or most of equity in a Chapter 11 reorganization; summaries and timeline pieces say Trump reduced his ownership stake significantly around the bankruptcy era and that the reorganization wiped out or diluted prior equity claims [3] [8]. Corporate proxies and bankruptcy documents in the academic collections chronicle plan proposals and “worthless stock” objections — indicating shareholders’ positions were heavily impaired [5] [6]. Reports that TER shares eventually traded for pennies and that shareholders received minimal recovery align with this pattern [9] [8].
5. How Trump reportedly monetized or insulated himself historically
Long-form coverage and retrospectives argue Trump has, in other episodes, extracted fees, leases or other payments from businesses that later struggled, and that corporate restructurings sometimes advanced creditor/debtholder outcomes while former owners kept some upside through separate entities or branding arrangements [8]. The specific 2009 files in the academic collections include declarations and plan documents that would detail any insider claims or retained economic interests, but the provided snippets do not lay out a clear dollar-for-dollar accounting of payments to Trump tied to the 2009 case [5] [6]. Available sources do not mention exact sums Trump may have received around that specific 2009 reorganization.
6. Conflicting figures and how to read them
Different outlets cite different debt totals for TER’s troubles — $1.2 billion is frequently cited in corporate summaries, while other write-ups report amounts up to $1.74 billion or reference cumulative write-downs of $1.8 billion across related restructurings [1] [2] [8]. These differences reflect which liabilities, affiliates or chronological aggregates a reporter counts; readers should treat any single headline number as a snapshot, not a full ledger [1] [8].
7. Bottom line and limitations in the record
The 2009 TER bankruptcy clearly damaged shareholder value in the company and coincided with Trump’s formal exit from the board and a sharp reduction in his TER stake, but the provided sources do not offer a concrete accounting of how Donald Trump’s total personal income or wider portfolio changed dollar-for-dollar as a result [3] [1]. For a full, forensic accounting you would need the bankruptcy plan, distributions schedules and Trump’s personal tax or SEC-style disclosures — documents cited in the academic case studies but not summarized with exact personal-income figures in the sources above [5] [6].