You're Fired!

Yesterday, it was reported that Donald Trump's business, Trump Entertainment Resorts, the casino operating group, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to court documents filed in Camden, N.J. Locally, in St. Louis, we heard last week about a similar filing for Charter Communications, our only cable TV operator. The fact that businesses are filing for bankruptcy should not be surprising, given the state of the economy amidst our current recession. What I find interesting about the Donald Trump case is this, here's a guy who has a hit TV show called The Apprentice, where he comes out every week and tells people (and now celebrities in the newer celebrity version) what they did wrong, why they did not make good business decisions, and why they are being fired. And now, he, Mr. Trump, was basically fired by the bondholders of his own company. He and his daughter later said that they were quitting, but it was the bondholders and the board that made the first move. So a guy that's supposed to be so smart, so savvy, and possessing so much business acumen, could not run his company successfully enough to meet the interest payments due on his bond holdings. Even more amazing is that this is now the third time "The Donald" has filed for bankruptcy protection. Not quite the sterling endorsement I would want if I was picking a mentor. I wonder how The Apprentice will do in the ratings? Maybe NBC will fire Donald Trump, too!