Trump Family Corp: crypto-business and vodka - how Eric Trump is building up the family fortune

Since Trump returned to the White House, the fortunes of his family members have been growing by leaps and bounds: according to Bloomberg estimates, in the first week of September alone it grew by 20% thanks to crypto-assets and the actions of his sons. In response to criticism, the businessman's offspring say that all coincidences are coincidental, just genes and upbringing do not allow them to sit still. Surprising but true: entrepreneurial genes are strong not only in the president's heirs, but also in their wives and husbands. Oninvest presents a series of articles about the Trump family businesses. The hero of the first episode is Eric Trump

Meet Eric Trump, 41, the second oldest son of the American president and his first wife, Ivana. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University, where he studied management, finance and psychology in depth. He did not pursue further studies.

As of September 2025, according to U.S. media estimates, a billionaire with a reputation as a crypto-evangelist and crypto-bro, as the Wall Street Journal called him in a recent article. One of the most prominent advocates of the development of digital currencies in the United States and at the same time one of the most obvious beneficiaries of the policy to liberalize this market, implemented by the father-president. On July 18, the White House chief signed into law a bill called the GENIUS Act, which introduced the first-ever federal regulations and safeguards for holders of stablecoins - cryptocurrencies tied to stable assets (such as the U.S. dollar). Less than two months later, in the first week of September alone, the Trump family's combined cryptocapitalization has grown by about $1.3 billion - thanks in large part to the entrepreneurial activity of Eric Trump.

The president's middle son, like the Trump family as a whole, has two major crypto assets - American Bitcoin and World Liberty Financial.

WLF was founded by Donald Trump, his sons and trusted business partners in September 2024, at the end of the presidential race, and even then sparked talk of potential conflicts of interest if the politician won. After taking office, Donald Trump moved to the status of "honorary co-founder", but Eric and his brother became members of the governing board. The company's assets include the $WLFI token and the USD1 stablecoin. The token went on public sale on the crypto markets on September 1. On the first day of trading, its total market capitalization was just under $7 billion, making WLFI the 31st largest cryptocurrency in circulation, according to CoinGecko.

But WLF started generating huge flows of money for the president's family long before the token sales started. Fortune Crypto writes: "The whole project is a clever mix of tokens and financial alchemy. And it's making real money. In March, World Liberty Financial said it raised $550 million through direct sales of its WLFI token, while the market capitalization of its USD1 stablecoin reached $2.2 billion - a pool of capital on which Trump family businesses earn interest income."

In addition, former biotech company ALT5 Sigma Corporation said in August that it plans to sell its shares to invest $1.5 billion to buy WLFI tokens. Now the market capitalization of WLFI according to CoinMarketCap valuation is about $5 billion, and FDV, i.e. fully diluted valuation - $20 billion."

The second company, American Bitcoin, in which Eric owns 7.5%, according to Bloomberg estimates, has only now really taken off. On the first day of trading on September 3, when American Bitcoin debuted on the stock market, the valuation of the share of Eric and his brother Donald (together, as Reuters wrote, they own 20% of shares) reached $2.6 billion, after the close of trading was estimated at $1.5 billion. Forbes magazine calculated that thus by the end of the day the value of Eric's personal share could reach $590 million. According to Bloomberg, his share in American Bitcoin was worth more than 13 golf clubs and resort properties owned by the president's family. Technically, he is the co-founder and chief strategy officer at American Bitcoin. But Eric himself believes that he has a different role: "Crypto had a very bad image for a long time, it was difficult to get its message across. - explains the president's son. - I think in the last 12-18 months I have become one of the leading speakers in the crypto industry. And not just in the U.S., but around the world."

Eric's international status as a crypto-evangelist is secured by his position as an advisor to Metaplanet Inc, a Japanese bitcoin hoarding company - currently ranked 6th in the world and first in the country in terms of digital currency purchased, and set to become the world's second largest by 2027. Eric won a seat on Metaplanet's new advisory board a couple months after his father took over as president. In early September, Ericattended the company's extraordinary shareholders meeting in Tokyo to discuss the company's new strategic plans.

The son of the American president flew to the capital of Japan directly from Hong Kong , where he took part in the Bitcoin Asia conference. During the event, Eric was generous in his praise of China, calling the PRC a "crazy force in the development of cryptocurrencies" and making loud statements, such as that bitcoin will soon be worth a million dollars.

Its current value is about 10 times lower, but since his father was elected president, bitcoin has risen in value by more than 60%. Perhaps Eric Trump's bold predictions for a bright crypto future and his own are not unfounded?

Eric is not lying when he says that crypto-business occupies about half of his time. If you look at the information on the official website of the Trump Organization, where he is an executive vice president, and analyze his recent activities, it becomes clear: in parallel with the development of digital currencies, the president's son is actively involved in the management of the main family asset - luxury real estate.

In July, Eric and his brother Donald accompanied their father on a trip to the UK. In Scotland, it was President Trump who was the host, Bloomberg wrote: the talks with British Prime Minister Starmer took place at the Turnberry golf course, which Donald Trump bought before his presidency from the UAE leadership, it was and remains a loss-making asset. A couple months before the US President's official visit, British officials were negotiating the Turnberry Open with Eric Trump. Eric is not only responsible for maintaining existing projects, but is also in the process of expanding the business. In May, The Seattle Times talked about the wide geography of the presidential family's interests - from the Middle East to the Balkans. Eric was given the Arab countries - Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. He spent the spring and summer on business trips there. In Riyadh, Eric signed a number of deals with Dar Al Arkan, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's largest real estate developer. It was agreed that an 80-story Trump International Hotel & Tower will be built in Dubai. In Qatar, Trump's company will build a golf club with luxury villas along the coast - the project is estimated at $5.5 billion. Forbes noted that the trips of Trump-President coincided in time and route with the business trips of his son.

When reporters asked White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt to comment on the coincidence of the routes, she replied that it was simply ridiculous to suggest that President Trump was acting for his own benefit.

In addition to developing the real estate business, which is not Dad's business now, but will become it again when the second presidential term is over, Eric is actively involved in other projects that are aimed at capitalizing the Trump family. In June, for example, the president's two eldest sons announced the launch of a new mobile carrier, Trump Mobile, as well as plans to sell the T1 smartphone, which will be 100% assembled in the States. The phone was scheduled to start selling in August. In August, the timeline was pushed back to October.

There is no news about the mobile operator online either, but the official Trump Mobile website looks to be up and running and ready to provide all the promised services.

In early 2025, according to CBS News, Eric was in talks to launch a vodka named after Trump, but the initiative came to a halt when it became clear that the new drink would not go on sale before the inauguration. Trump the father, by the way, being a staunch teetotaler himself, has been planning to launch a vodka named after himself for over 20 years. According to CBS, he has long since come up with a signature cocktail that he would like to make based on the drink - T&T - Trump vodka and tonic. But the idea never came to fruition.

Eric has a few projects of his own. For example, he is the official owner and manager of Trump Winery, the largest winery in Virginia . The 1300-acre piece of land was bought by Donald Trump in 2011, but since 2012 Eric has taken over all management. The winery produces merlot, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, and a special Presidential Reserve sparkling wine - totaling 36,000 cases of wine per year.

There have been less successful endeavors in Eric's biography. In 2006, at the age of 23, he founded the Eric Trump Foundation, a charitable organization that raised funds for terminally ill children. Over the next 10 years, numerous philanthropists donated tens of millions of dollars to the foundation - mostly through events held at the family's golf clubs. In an interview with Forbes, Eric revealed that absolutely all of the money went to the children, as he didn't have to pay to rent the family's courses. However, tax records showed that this was not the case: the sponsors' money was being spent to pay for their own cocktail parties. After the scandal broke, Eric resigned as chairman of the foundation.

To be continued

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor