We Have Met the Enemy … [Not Trump]

February 27, 2016

My friend S.G. noted Members of Golf Resort Say Trump Didn’t Honor the Deal by Joe Nocera in Sports Business for the New York Times. Mr. Nocera—a great business writer who moved to sports recently—nails a terrific story about Donald Trump, businessman extraordinaire. How does he do it? Looks like he cheats.

The golf story is about rich people who put up a refundable $200K to belong to a Ritz Carlton golf club. The deal failed. Trump bought the club and agreed to assume responsibility for about 150 deposits. (That’s $30M.) And what did he do when he took over? Within days, he changed the rules to avoid paying the refundable deposits. (The story is more nuanced, and for

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