Is Mitt Romney a better business man than Trump?

One of the things that was covered in the New York Times article recently was that Trump had around half a billion dollars worth of debt. Back in the 2012 campaign one of talking points about Romney was how he would have been the wealthiest president of all time and it wouldn't be close to anyone before him. This was largely because of being a business man, and in fact he talked about running the government like a business.

Considering that Trump has so much debt, does this mean Romney was actually better at running a business than Don the Con?

the massive amount of debt trump has accumulated ( even pre-covid ) all makes sense now.

that's all he knows how to do.

what's the plan donny? write off the national debt?

Didn't Romney make his fortune in the venture capital game? Isn't he the candidate that was part of Bain Capital?

A semi-trained chimpanzee could make money in the venture capital game - its all about the fee structure and using third party corporate debt for personal gain. I worked for a company under Bain Capital, and I wouldn't hold up either of these two as "captains of industry" role models.

That's fair. This question was just something I thought about earlier today, thought I would ask gamespot gang. Yes, I did just give us a nickname.

To push back a bit though, Mitt isn't in hundreds of millions of dollars of debt to the best of our knowledge.

Yeah, I'll agree to that. I just want to withhold on lionizing Romney (mostly because I want to resist lionizing venture capital which they're pushing into retirement accounts now).

Well I can't disagree with that.

To be fair, he also did a stint at Bain & Company as CEO (the management consulting company, not Bain Capital) and did quite well at turning it around. That does demonstrate an ability to actually lead a substantial organization. I happen to know a number of partners at Bain (consulting) who were around at that time and they speak quite highly of him...for whatever that's worth 😀

Based on rate of return from investment and a starting reference point, absolutely.

Everyone is better than Trump.

People on a video game forum questioning how successful Donald Trump is.

Hi-lar-i-ous.

@Watch_My_6: Hey, look who’s back! What happened, log into the wrong account? Haha! ;)

I was banned for posting facts.

Glad you remember me though. Hopefully wondering where I was didn't keep you up that late every night.

@Watch_My_6: I forgot you existed. Have more important things to do.

Romney > Trump though. Almost voted for him!

My niece with her lemonade stand in the time of COVID is a better businessperson than Trump. At least she didn't go bankrupt like, I don't know....ten times.

• Trump vodka
• Trump U
• Trump steaks
• Three casinos
• Trump airlines

Am I forgetting anything?

Gotta love this line of thinking.

It's not like any of us are college graduates with business degrees, home owners, small business owners, invest in stocks, or anything else that requires a fundamental understanding of economics.

No no no, we can't do any of that and still like video games. Mutually exclusive, bro.

Careful. I got banned for posting something WAY more truthful than that.

@mrbojangles25: Yes. The country.

Post your tax return then.

I have a TDAmeritrade Account. Doesn't make me Warren Buffett.

High schoolers critiquing Monet is more valuable than anyone on here critiquing Trump's personal economics.

@mrbojangles25: I have a masters and invest in stock. I can at least say something about this.

@Watch_My_6: Now I am curious. DM it to me.

Seems like a fair comparison, both are business men, both have been the leader of the republican party at one point, both have run for president. Trump won that last one and Romney didn't, but who's the better businessman seems to be a fair question.

Umm, no. Trump builds, Romney liquidates.

@Sevenizz: How is multiple bankruptcies and inheriting a fortune building?

@thegreatchomp: He has over a hundred incorporated companies. A few goes bust. This is standard practice for investors/entrepreneurs.

Certainly not the successful business man he pretends to be, as is demonstrated by the state of the US right now.

I will when I run for president. Which should be in a few decades, about 20 years after I retire. Should be eligible by then since only old farts can be president.

If you have an active Ameritrade account you have more business sense than Trump. He'd be wealthier if he took his Daddy Fred's money and put it in a S&P 500 mutual fund. That's a fact you won't get banned for...

He would be shit without Daddies 400+ million. And somehow he squandered it.

Dude couldn’t even make a profit owning a casino, a license to print money. 🤣😂🤣

@warmblur said:

Isn't that fellow leader of one of the most powerful countries on planet earth, currently worth 3.1 billion and married to an extreamly attractive super model?

Going by his tax returns anyone is.

His assets are worth more than you, your children, and your children's children. Lifetime. Combined.

Let that sink in.

Imagine not understanding how wealth works.

My tax return?

I'm not the one in 'put up or shut it' mode. Everyone else is.

But if we're all doing it...sure, I'd join.

Also, LMAO at any liberal on this forum owning a small business. Chances are very slim a small business owner would vote against Trump.

@warmblur said:

Don't forget Trump Steaks!

@Watch_My_6: What got you banned. And you think just because somebody is a liberal means they don’t own a business? Get real!

One I doubt you know what a liberal actually is. Two there is no one political party that owns a small business. Fail!

@pyro1245 said:

@warmblur said:

Don't forget Trump Steaks!

LOL , Trump is such a failure.

It appears this current President Of The United States Of America is by far the wealthiest. With many of the other Presidents Of The United States Of America aside from having also been lesser businessmen, partaking in odious acts such as slavery.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_by_net_worth

wikipedia vs his actual tax returns showing millions in debt and all his businesses tanking? Sure.

That goes for you too, skippy. Buet lets not forget he wouldn't have jack shit if his Daddy did not give him 400+ million. Imagine not understanding how inheritance works.

He's just a bad business man, man.

Trump’s long-hidden tax returns make him look like a terrible businessman, or a cheat. Probably both.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/28/trumps-long-hidden-tax-returns-make-him-look-like-terrible-businessman-or-cheat/

As a Businessman, Trump Was the Biggest Loser of All

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/as-a-businessman-trump-was-the-biggest-loser-of-all

Sadly he ran USA worse than his businesses. The Trump Recession is no good.

@warmblur said:

@pyro1245 said:

@warmblur said:

Don't forget Trump Steaks!

LOL , Trump is such a failure.

Sadly he is one of the worst Presidents in history.

It's fairly natural in business to fail along the course of success, some would argue it's necessity.

A good example being your American actor/singer/body-builder/Fitness guru/businessman, "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson, arrested multiple times, completely failing as a football player and being left with a mere 20 or so of your American Dollars in his pocket humiliatingly being picked up by his father. He was also in Doom.

It's safe to say he's a success.

People are getting really butthurt about the notion that Trump isn't great in the world of business.

Why? Trump's not you, his success doesn't reflect on you. Why get so upset about this?

Because they're so gullible they've actually bought into the image and word of a con man, and to acknowledge different is to acknowledge their lack of judgement towards a very obvious con man.

They're invested.

I think alot of them where fooled by his reality tv show it made him look like a good business man but in real reality he's a snake oil salesman that was only rich because of Daddy's money. I wish people educated themselves back in 2015 when he was running. But we all know why his supporters still follow him no matter what they share a certain hatred for different types of people.

Isn't he saying "you're fired" when they are not in the room?

I don't get it. Trump is very obviously superficial but apparently NOT obviously superficial as many believe him and buy full tilt into his narrative. I don't know how someone could not recognize that he is a PR showman at heart. His profession is selling image. His $70,000 combover, his gold toilets and garish and tacky decorum, that constant fake golden shit-eating grin smile, the constant braggadocio and self-aggrandizement, the trophy wife who despises him.

But it apparently is profitable, as he's managed to pull the wool over so many eyes for so long. If there's any credit I'll lay at his feet, that would be it. Gullibility is very lucrative. But I think the presidency is finally revealing him for the fraud and failure he truly is, and always has been.

I didn't watch the show I don't know but I wouldn't be surprised everything about Trump is fake.

I think it was one thing that came up when he campaigned in 2016.

I agree Trump is a showman, he for sure is big on branding himself. Stepping into the spotlight to gain attention. I think most people realize things like the apprentice and appearing on WWE wrestling matches is apart of that.

He names his own tower after himself. He puts his name on almost everything he invests in. Part of sales is being a showman for sure. You need to impress and also sound confident, that's half the battle in sales, if not most of it. You ever heard the term fake it till you make it?

Trump gave up a lot of money to become president. I think this is something a lot of the people on the left miss. Trump would be more wealthy if he had never ran for president. In the past the opposite has been true, politicians usually run for office and then use that political power to THEN enrich themselves.

But it apparently is profitable, as he's managed to pull the wool over so many eyes for so long. If there's any credit I'll lay at his feet, that would be it. "Gullibility is very lucrative".

I feel this phrase here falls more in line with the Romney and Biden types more than it does Trump. The establishment politicians who lie to the American people and never deliver on promises, but instead enrich themselves. I agree that "gullibility is very lucrative". Just maybe not in the way you see it here. You see it with most politicians.

I've seen many on the left use the phrase, "Trump isn't the disease, he a symptom" I'm guessing that the disease in this phrase is the establishment, the system itself, which set people off to then vote for someone like Trump correct?

In my Eyes both Romney and Biden are great examples of this disease, cant stand either one of them.

To me, even though they are in opposite parties, they might as well be the same person.

47 years in politics......

No one is going to read that, Trumps tax returns prove he is a failure. That is all people need to know.

I can't speak to how much Trump gave up financially to become president, but he gains capital regardless. This presidency is as much an extension and selling of his image of success and promotion of his ego. When you have him comparing himself to the likes of Lincoln (which is ludicrous beyond comprehension), it's obvious that's there's a specific profit he's after. One which transcends money, yet lay contingent on the selling of it to those willing to purchase. I found this especially amusing, surfing on my phone the other night:

This degree of promotion is so laughably delusional, so blatantly arrogant. The presidency conveys the ultimate badge of achievement and success far more than money does to many people, it's little surprise Trump pursued it and is pushing ludicrous ads such as this. And the sad thing is, many believe this. It's all PR, it's all he's interested in. Going down in history as the ultimate "winner", the best president of all time. Yet after all is settled, he's going to be ranked amongst the worst, or at least down near the bottom. I take consolation in that.

I don't disagree with the anti-establishment sentiment, but Trump? What I don't understand is how can people actually believe that he has their best interests at heart, or is some pure, noble crusader against the swamp. Trump is the definition of the swamp. He's corrupt, immoral. I'll believe those in the so-called establishment long, LONG before I'd give Trump a second look. I don't believe a single word he spews even before he speaks it. He isn't anti-establishment at all. He is a con man and duplicitous just as much, if not much much more so, than that of what he demeans. How anyone could believe otherwise is beyond me.