Luck or Did Trump just kick the bankers’ asses?
Basically he destroyed the publically traded company that was in the process of building the Taj Majal in order to gain control of casino. Here is that story from the article.
“... After gaining control of two casinos through deals that loaded them with debt, he turned in 1987 to the Taj Mahal, a megaproject being built by publicly traded Resorts International Inc.
Mr. Trump bought a class of shares that gave him just a slice of Resorts’ equity, but voting control. From that perch, he pushed through a service contract that would have the company pay him $108 million over five years. He told casino regulators the company could raise the cash needed to finish its casino only by assuring lenders Mr. Trump would remain involved, which this contract did.
Upon news that funding was uncertain, Resorts’ stock plunged. Mr. Trump then told investors the only way to finish the Taj Mahal was for him to buy Resorts at just above its reduced share price. Construction lenders, he said, were put off in part by the high cost of his service contract.
Mr. Trump then cut a deal with another bidder for Resorts, accepted $60 million to terminate his service contract, and in 1988 ended up with the half-finished Taj Mahal casino. It issued $675 million of bonds to complete construction.”