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Former President Donald Trump lost millions of dollars because he sold his Apple and Microsoft shares too soon, newly released tax filing documents show.
Combing through the data, news week discovered that he and his wife, Melania, sold the two shares in early 2017 along with four others, after buying them just four years earlier.
But after he sold his shares, the prices of both shares skyrocketed, peaking in 2021 and 2022. And while they’re lower than they were then, the former president could have walked away with more than $5 million had he sold them. today.
Still, Trump has claimed that recently released tax documents show just how successful he is as a businessman.
Former President Donald Trump lost millions of dollars by selling his shares in Apple and Microsoft too soon
According to a 2017 tax return, the former president and Melania sold shares in six companies, including Apple and Microsoft, in early 2017 as he began his presidency.
He had bought the shares in October 2013, purchasing $481,505 worth of Apple shares and $248,867 worth of Microsoft shares.
Trump sold Apple for $833,118, earning $351,613 or a 73 percent gain, and sold Microsoft for $464,558, earning $215,691 or an 87 percent gain.
In all, the former president netted $642,000 from his initial investments in seven companies in 2017, a 47 percent return. By comparison, the S&P 500 is up about 32 percent over the same period.
He had warned in 2014 that he was going to sell his Apple shares “based on his foolish refusal to give the option of a larger iPhone screen like Samsung’s,” but stuck with it until early 2017.
That investment would have been worth $4,750,000 today, giving Trump a profit of $3,669,000.
And if Trump had held on to his Microsoft shares, they would be worth just under $2 million.
By selling both today, Trump would have earned a return of more than $5 million, with Apple shares trading at $134.76 over the weekend and Microsoft trading at $239.23.
The Trumps could also have sold Apple shares for around $5.1 million in early January 2022, when prices were at their peak, and Microsoft shares for $2.5 million in November 2021.
That would have earned the former president more than $7 million once dividends are factored in.
If Trump had kept his Apple shares, they would have been worth $4,750,000 today and if he had kept his Microsoft shares, they would be worth just under $2 million.
Trump had previously announced in 2014 that he would sell his Apple shares “based on his foolish refusal to give the option of a larger iPhone screen like Samsung’s.” He but he held the shares until early 2017.
The former presidents’ losses are just one of many revelations gleaned from six-year tax returns that the House Ways and Means Committee released last month.
Thousands of pages of documents reviewed by DailyMail.com confirm that Trump paid little federal income tax while in the White House and nothing in 2020.
He and his wife Melania reported having a negative income of $53.2 million from 2015 to 2020.
And Trump paid $1.7 million in taxes over the six-year period, including just $750 in 2016 and 2017.
The results show that Trump had financial accounts in China, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Saint Martin.
Apple shares traded at $134.76 over the weekend, down from their 2021 and 2022 high.
Microsoft was trading at $239.23 over the weekend, slightly below its 2021 high.
In response, the former president shamed Democrats for releasing their remarks on Friday and bragged about what they said about him as a longtime real estate developer and television personality.
“The Democrats should never have done it, the Supreme Court should never have approved it, and it’s going to lead to horrible things for so many people,” Trump said in a statement Friday. ‘The radical left-wing Democrats have rigged it all up, but remember, that’s a dangerous two-way street!’
added, ‘Trump’s tax returns show once again how proudly successful I have been and how I have been able to use depreciation and other tax deductions as an incentive to create thousands of jobs and magnificent structures and businesses.’