Trump University
The company's logo
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| Privately held, unaccredited | |
| Industry | For Profit Education |
| Founded | 2004 (incorporated) May 23, 2005 (launched) |
| Founder | Donald Trump |
| Headquarters | New York City, U.S |
| Website |
trumpinitiative (registration required) |
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 Is Trump University a fraud?, 5:28, CNN, September 29, 2015 |
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Trump faces lawsuits from former Trump University students, 5:47, CBS This Morning, September 24, 2015 |
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Prosecutor: Trump lawsuit no stunt, 3:55, CNN, August 26, 2013 |
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Trump, Rubio spar over lawsuit against Trump University, 4:53, Fox News Channel, March 3, 2016 |
Trump University (also known as the Trump Wealth Institute and Trump Entrepreneur Initiative LLC) was an American for-profit education company that ran a real estate training program from 2005 until 2010. It was owned and operated by The Trump Organization. (A separate organization, Trump Institute, was licensed by Trump University but not owned by the Trump Organization.) After multiple lawsuits, it is now defunct. It was founded by Donald Trump and his associates, Michael Sexton and Jonathan Spitalny, in 2004. The company offered courses in real estate, asset management, entrepreneurship, and wealth creation.
The organization was not an accredited university or college. It did not confer college credit, grant degrees, or grade its students. In 2011, the company became the subject of an inquiry by the New York Attorney General's office for illegal business practices that resulted in a lawsuit filed in 2013.
Trump University was also the subject of two class action lawsuits in federal court. The lawsuits centered around allegations that Trump University defrauded its students by using misleading marketing practices and engaging in aggressive sales tactics. The company and the lawsuits against it received renewed interest due to Trump's candidacy in the 2016 presidential election. Despite repeatedly insisting that he would not settle, Trump settled all three lawsuits in November 2016 for a total of $25 million after being elected to the presidency.
Michael Sexton created a business plan for a real-estate training program and presented it to Donald Trump looking to pay Trump a flat fee for the use of his name. Trump instead decided he wanted to be the principal owner.
Trump University was incorporated in 2004 by Trump, Sexton, and Spitalny, as a New York limited liability company. Donald Trump owned 93% of the company. On May 23, 2005, Trump University formally launched its education program. At the opening presentation, Trump said: "If I had a choice of making lots of money or imparting lots of knowledge, I think I'd be as happy to impart knowledge as to make money". The company's original business plan focused on online education, but quickly expanded to include live, in-person instruction as well. The focus of the instruction was real estate investing, with Trump claiming in advertisements, "I can turn anyone into a successful real estate investor, including you." Typically the instruction began with an introductory seminar in rented space such as a hotel ballroom. At the introductory seminar, students were urged to sign up for additional classes, ranging from $1495 seminars to a $35,000 "Gold Elite" program. Records produced indicate 7611 tickets in total were sold to customers attending courses. Approximately 6000 of these tickets were for a $1,500 3-day course and 1000 tickets were for silver, gold or elite mentored courses ranging in price from $10,000 to $35,000.
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Wikipedia