Minnesota Twins Were Almost Purchased By Donald Trump
By Joe Perri
Donald J. Trump lost out on two investments that could have netted the American billionaire a few more hundred million dollars.
American businessman, politician, television personality, author, and the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party for the President of the United States in the 2016 election, Donald Trump, nearly bought the Minnesota Twins in 1984.
Former Twins’ owner, Calvin Griffith, had a sit-down meeting with Trump in regards to his interest in the ball-club which was documented in a biography about Griffith in 1990 by John Kerr.
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Trump gave Griffith the biggest offer he would receive with a $50 million bid. Unfortunately for Donald, the highest bidder doesn’t always get the team. Griffith turned down Trump’s lucrative offer and sold the franchise to Carl Pohland, a banker living in Minneapolis at the time, for $36 million.
“It was a lot of money, no question about it,” Griffith told Kerr. “I never thought I’d get in a room talking about the kind of money he was talking about.”
The attorney at the time for the Twins was Peter Dorsey, and he was present for the meeting between Griffith and Trump: “We met up in his office and he said, ‘I’ve got something that a lot of other people have and I don’t have something that a lot of people do have. I don’t have a board of directors or shareholders. And I do have a helluva lot of money,’ ” Dorsey recalled, according to the biography.
This wasn’t the first time Donald attempted to purchase a baseball franchise. In 1983, he reached out to the Cleveland Indians with a $13 million dollar offer to buy the team. His attorney sent a letter to the Indians expressing his interest:
Trump eventually upped his offer to over $30 million before the deal ultimately fell apart. The Indians were later sold to brothers Dick and David Jacobs in 1986 for $5 million more.
Donald had the right idea back in the 80’s. He saw that the writing was on the wall for baseball franchises, and figured he would try and get in before team’s became too expensive to buy. For example: according to Forbes.com, the Minnesota Twins are currently worth $910 million and the Cleveland Indians are worth $800 million.
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While Trump may have missed out on two dream investments, I don’t think he let that bring him down. Today, Donald’s net worth sits at a robust 4.5 billion USD’s.