Page 96 - How To Get Rich

I call Paula Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization, to
go over a few things with her. An interviewer recently asked me what
motivated me to buy the rights to the Miss Universe pageant. My answer
was that I love beautiful women and I’m also a businessman, so it seemed

like a good idea, which it has turned out to be. Sometimes things are that
simple. I realized early on that I was an aesthete by nature, being attracted
to beauty in both people and buildings. My work has shown that some
early self-knowledge was right on target.
I take a call from Ricardo Bellino, a businessman in Brazil. We are
working on the Villa Trump together in Brazil, and he’s also asking me
some questions for his upcoming book on the power of ideas. I mention

that ideas are door openers, the first step. Without a first step, there won’t
be any other steps to take you where you want to go. It’s a visual process.
Perhaps that’s why I’m a visionary, but a well-grounded one. When it
comes to great ideas, the first questions I ask myself are:Yeah, but is it
possible? Will this be feasible? If I can see something being
accomplished, I know it is a possibility. I guess that’s why I’m a builder. I

start from the ground and go up from there.
I write a congratulatory note to Kitty Carlisle Hart for her ninety-third
birthday. In addition to being multitalented, she’s been a true
philanthropist, and New York is lucky to have her. I always liked to watch
her on television. Those of you who remember the television showTo Tell
the Truth will know what I’m talking about.
I write another note to a high school that has asked me for advice, and

also asked who my favorite U.S. president might be. I decide to start with
a quote by Abraham Lincoln, who would have to be my first choice: I will
study and prepare, and perhaps my chance will come. Always humble,
always hardworking, always studying, Lincoln is a great example for high
school kids.

11:30A.M. The Entertainment Channel is ready for an interview
regardingThe Apprentice. It goes quickly and well, and we’re done in five
minutes.
12:00P.M. I call an employee at a large property who has not been as
attentive as his position demands. I tell him that his bad performance is
not his fault, but mine: I simply hired the wrong person by overestimating
his capabilities. I add that if he’d like to change my mind about my initial