Donald Trump’s $175 Million Bail Paid by Billionaire Don Hankey: Inside the Agreement and Who is Don Hankey

2024-04-05 02:28:31

Former United States President Donald Trump on Monday paid the $175 million bail imposed in New York for the civil fraud case, thus saving himself from having his assets seized. Although the tycoon has a net worth much higher than that amount, another person was the one who paid the money: billionaire Don Hankey.

Trump had until Thursday to post bail.

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It should be noted that the initial bail was US$464 million, but Trump might not raise that money and appealed to the court, which reduced it to US$175 million.

In mid-February of this year, Trump was fined $454 million along with his sons Eric and Don Jr. for financial fraud within their Trump Organization real estate empire.

Former US President Donald Trump arrives at 40 Wall Street following his court hearing to determine the date of his trial in the Stormy Daniels Case. (Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP).

They were accused of inflating their real estate assets by several billion dollars throughout the 2010s to obtain more favorable loans from banks.

Following the conviction, New York State Attorney General Letitia James threatened to seize Trump’s assets if he did not pay the fine and even mentioned his assets as the 40 Wall Street building.

But Trump appealed, and while this appeal is resolved, the payment of bail prevents James from immediately collecting the $454 million fine.

The main court cases once morest Donald Trump. (AFP).

But who is the billionaire who posted the bail and what was the agreement like?

How was the agreement with Don Hankey’s company negotiated?

Don Hankey, 79, is a California billionaire and self-proclaimed Trump supporter.

He is president and majority shareholder of Knight Specialty Insurance, a company that offers subprime loans to car buyers with weak credit scores and is part of the Hankey Group.

Hankey confirmed to CNN on Tuesday that his company agreed with Trump to pay the $175 million.

“It’s what we do. I’m happy to do it. We would have done it for anyone else… It was an easy transaction. It was put together quickly,” Hankey told CNN in a phone interview.

He stated that he initially contacted the Trump Organization in March, when the former president was having problems raising the US$464 million bail.

“We had a conversation regarding how to raise bail of that size,” Hankey told CNN.

After a New York appeals court lowered the fine, Trump’s team contacted Knight Specialty Insurance, Hankey said.

The businessman told CNN that Trump initially planned to post a mix of investment-grade bonds and cash as collateral (80% bonds and 20% cash), but that idea fell through.

“In the end, he put up all the cash,” Hankey said. He added that he doesn’t know where the $175 million in cash Trump sent came from.

According to The Washington Post, without Hankey’s help Trump would have had to spend his money to pay bail or the authorities would have started confiscating his properties.

Hankey also spoke to the Washington Post. He told the outlet that his company is charging Trump a “modest fee,” which he did not want to reveal. He only indicated that it was “good business, not a political statement.”

Don Hankey owns Knight Specialty Insurance, the company that makes high-interest auto loans to customers with bad credit.

Who is Don Hankey?

Don Hankey was born and raised in Los Angeles and has an undergraduate degree and graduate work from the University of Southern California.

He owns Knight Insurance Group, of which Knight Specialty Insurance is a part, the company that makes high-interest auto loans to customers with bad credit.

Forbes estimates Hankey’s net worth at $7.4 billion. But according to USA Today, he has more than $22.5 billion in assets, including Hankey Group, his Los Angeles-based automotive services empire.

According to Forbes, as a teenager Hankey washed and polished cars before becoming a car salesman at his father’s Ford dealership in Los Angeles. Then came his rise as a businessman.

“His Westlake Financial Services works with more than 30,000 car dealers in all 50 states to offer auto loans to people with bad or no credit,” according to Forbes. “The Hankey Group also includes a real estate company and a Toyota dealership, as well as auto insurance, vehicle rental and dealer software companies,” he added.

Hankey told the Washington Post that Westlake Financial Services makes loans to 1.5 million customers.

The billionaire is also the largest individual non-institutional shareholder in Axos Bank, a little-known online company that in 2022 provided $225 million in loans crucial to keeping Trump’s businesses afloat, following many of his lenders across the country life will cut their ties following the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, said the Washington Post.

Hankey told the Washington Post that he has never spoken to Donald Trump. But following the deal was made public, she heard from one of his sons, who runs the Trump Organization.

“I spoke with Eric Trump this morning,” Hankey said. “He called us and thanked us for paying bail.”

Hankey confirmed to CNN that he and his wife, as well as their two children, have donated money to Trump’s presidential campaigns in the past and plan to support him once more in 2024.

Besides…

Trump among the 500 richest in the world

In March of this year, following Trump Media announced that it would make its stock market debut, Donald Trump first joined the list of the world’s 500 richest people on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Bloomberg estimated that Trump’s net worth soared by $4 billion, giving him a total fortune of $6.5 billion.

The closing of the merger between Trump Media and Digital World Acquisition Corp. amounts to a billion-dollar windfall for former President Donald Trump, who is the chairman and dominant shareholder of the new company, CNN explained.

Trump Media & Technology Group was founded in 2021 following Trump lost the presidential election and was temporarily banned from major social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, which accused him of inciting violence.

In 2022, Trump Media launched the social media platform Truth Social.

Much of Truth Social’s functionality is identical to that of X.

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