Trump: How to Get Rich

timetable. My instincts told me the building could become the prime office location it once had been, and that there had to be a way to make it work.

I asked George Ross to see whether he could devise a workable scenario, and he came up with an interesting new approach. He suggested we envision the 1.3-million-square-foot building as three separate structures on top of each other:

• The top 400,000-square-foot tower had small floors with spectacular views, and he was convinced it would quickly be rented to boutique tenants who would pay higher rent for the prestige of being a full-floor user on a high floor.

• The middle 300,000 square feet could be rented for less per square foot, but those rents would still more than cover the purchase price and the cost of renovation.

• The bottom 400,000 square feet might be tougher to rent, but even if those floors were completely empty, the building would still be profitable, assuming our projections about renting the top 700,000 square feet were correct.

Emboldened by George’s plan, I discarded the idea of residential conversion and relied on our construction expertise to turn 40 Wall Street into a successful office building. We redesigned and modernized the lobby and building systems, and when the rental market improved, we were ready. Now, the building is worth hundreds of times what I paid for it.

I guess my instincts were right.

Know Exactly What You Want and Keep It to Yourself

If you’re careful about what you reveal, you’ll have more flexibility as you gather more information about the contours of the deal.

In order to complete Trump Tower as I envisioned it, it was necessary for me to control an adjoining site on Fifty-seventh Street owned by Leonard Kandell and leased to Bonwit Teller, a dying department store chain. Len Kandell was a shrewd real estate developer whose ultimate desire was to own land in strategic locations forever. I tried to gain a long-term lease, but Kandell was asking for too much in rent, and we were stalled.

Meanwhile, during negotiations to buy air rights from the adjoining Tiffany store, which would allow me to build a larger Trump Tower, I learned that Tiffany also had an option to buy the Kandell property at a fair market price. This was news to me, and a crucial piece of information, but I didn’t let anyone know how important that news was to me.

I led Tiffany to believe I was interested only in air rights, without calling any special attention to their option to buy the Kandell property. They sold me their air rights and basically threw in the option as part of the deal.

Then I told Len Kandell that I was no longer interested in a lease on the land. I was going to buy it, using the Tiffany option.

Kandell didn’t want to sell, and I really didn’t want to buy. With my new leverage, I suggested reconsideration of a long-term lease. This time, Kandell agreed, and we quickly closed on a mutually acceptable lease, beginning a friendship that continues to flourish with his heirs.

Don’t be confined by your expectations. Sometimes, what we think we want and what we actually want are two different things.

On more than several occasions, I have discovered in the middle of negotiations that what I had wanted was the wrong thing. Sometimes, my negotiating partners have given me ideas I hadn’t thought of. Even adversaries have given me new ideas. Sometimes, a big question suddenly comes into my mind and I begin to think in a new direction.

Cut yourself some slack. It’s okay to change your mind and suggest a different approach—as long as you haven’t made any commitments to the other side.

Some people, while admitting I’m a good negotiator, have said I’m devious. I’m too busy to be devious. I just assimilate new information quickly and move forward in unexpected ways—unexpected to the other party as well as to myself. That’s one reason I find negotiating exciting.

Perhaps because I’m a Gemini, I believe there is a duality to negotiating. You have to balance reason with passion. Reason keeps you open. Passion keeps your adrenaline going.

Before you begin any negotiation, write down your objectives. Then try to anticipate what the other side might want. Find a way of talking about the deal and setting up parameters that will keep either of you from getting locked into an impossible position.

Know what you want, bottom line, but keep it to yourself until a strategically necessary moment. Once all of the issues are on the table, you’ll have a better approach to navigating your way to your desired solution.

Make Sure Both Sides Come Out Winning

In The Art of the Deal, I described how I acquired the Hilton property in Atlantic City, now known as Trump Marina, for $320 million. It was the biggest gamble of my career at the time, and it became front page news because the property was also sought by Steve Wynn, the largest casino owner in Las Vegas, who launched a hostile takeover bid before Hilton chose me as its white knight.

I like all of my Atlantic City hotels, but Trump Marina is where I prefer to stay when I’m in town, because acquiring this property was a victory to savor. It reminds me of an essential negotiating skill: Let everyone come out a winner. There was no rancor in this triumph.

There was drama, however—especially when Steve Wynn got involved. It became a competition of heavy hitters, and I loved every minute of it. I’ll bet Steve did, too. To this day, we are good friends.

Interestingly enough, we are now both fodder for an HBO movie in development about Atlantic City. I got a copy of the script and it takes plenty of shots at me and Steve. It is highly inaccurate.

Steve, in essence, provided a catalyst for both the Hiltons and myself to get what we wanted. Was Steve the loser? No. I got the property I wanted, but Steve is thriving. The battle for the property enlarged his reputation and probably helped him move on to even bigger deals.

If the HBO movie ever makes it to the small screen, don’t believe what you see. You’ll get a better view of reality from other TV shows on the air. In a good negotiation, all sides win.

Let Your Guard Down, but Only on Purpose

Offer a calculated nugget of information, or a provocative opinion, to see what the reaction is.

If you say something seemingly off the cuff, you may get a revealing response. I might make an outrageous comment in a meeting just to see whether the other people play along or take a stand and disagree. It’s a good way of assessing the mettle of the folks across the table. Do they want to be liked? Are they comfortable with unpredictability? Are they capable of candor?

Know that your negotiating partner might bluff, too. But when it comes to serious endeavors, you don’t want bluffers of any sort. Study the person’s history.

I’m always surprised when newcomers to the real estate industry think that talking big and fast will get them somewhere with me. Construction of a big building is painstaking work and that’s the kind of person I want doing it—someone who will take the time to do it right. I don’t want people who think they can get it done in record time. That can spell disaster.

I remember one contractor who tried every angle to convince me how fast he was. His time estimates were so far off that I couldn’t take him seriously, but I let him keep trying to pitch me just to find out how full of it he really was. He must have thought he caught me on a bad day or with my guard down, but my guard wasn’t down—I was just incredulous. Finally, I told the guy that what he was saying was exactly what I never wanted to