Dan Alexander, Forbes Staff

Out of office, the former president has transformed his fortune, converting a real-estate empire into a political profit machine.

Plenty of rich people have blown fortunes on politics. But no other American has used politics to create as much personal wealth as the 45th president, who left office with a new asset — throngs of people willing to buy almost anything from him, at virtually any price.

Trump’s lender fell for lies about how big, and possibly how profitable, his properties actually were.