According to internal emails presented at the former president’s civil fraud trial, when Donald Trump attempted to acquire the Buffalo Bills in 2014, investment bankers doubted the NFL would accept it but encouraged him to stay in the running.
“Trump has little chance of being approved by the NFL,” then-Morgan Stanley executive K. Don Cornwell wrote to colleagues in April 2014, citing his ownership of casinos and involvement in the rival competition USFL’s 1980s antitrust action against the NFL. “That being said, his strong show of support doesn’t hurt the process.”
“He probably does have the dough” and claimed to be wooing the NFL, another Morgan Stanley banker, Jeffrey Holzschuh, responded, adding: “but never know the true facts with him.”
Three months later, Trump offered $US1 billion in cash ($US1.3 billion or $2 billion in today’s money), becoming one of three acknowledged finalists attempting to purchase the Bills following the death of founder and Hall of Fame owner Ralph Wilson. Terry and Kim Pegula, owners of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, eventually purchased the Bills for $US1.4 billion. A company fronted by rocker Jon Bon Jovi was also interested in purchasing the squad.
A decade later, Trump’s failed Bills attempt is one of the business decisions being scrutinized in a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney-General Letitia James. She accuses the former president and current Republican presidential candidate for 2024 of tricking banks, insurers, and others by providing them with financial documents that vastly overstate the worth of his holdings.
Trump denies any wrongdoing and claims that his annual “statements of financial condition” understated his wealth. He characterizes the lawsuit as part of an attempt by James and other Democrats to suffocate his campaign.
Trump owned the New Jersey Generals of the USFL and led the fledgling league to challenge the NFL in the mid-1980s, claiming that the established rivals had monopolised professional football. The USFL won a pyrrhic win, with a jury awarding only $US1 in damages – multiplied by court rules to $US3 and ultimately $US3.76 with interest once upheld by the US Supreme Court. The USFL, which had demanded $US1.3 billion, declared bankruptcy shortly after.
In the antitrust case, Trump testified that then-NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle suggested the notion of Trump owning an NFL club and persuaded him not to sue. Rozelle also unsuccessfully lobbied Trump to reject plans to move the USFL’s season from spring to October. The schedule adjustment, which Trump championed, put the USFL against the NFL and was generally blamed for the downfall of the newer league.
In an initial offer letter to purchase the Bills, Trump stated that his net worth was more than $US8 billion but never presented financial statements. According to an email produced in court on Wednesday (AEDT), Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen told the bankers that Trump would not release his financial documents unless he was notified he was “the final bidder.”
Instead, Cornwell testified, Trump distributed copies of Forbes magazine’s list of affluent celebrities during a presentation to bankers. At the time, Trump was the star of NBC’s The Apprentice.
Cohen argued throughout the sale process that Trump was serious about his bid and his commitment to keeping the Bills in Buffalo. Cohen denied accusations that Trump lacked the financial resources to complete the transaction, claiming his then-boss was worth billions of dollars and citing his several properties as proof.
“There’s nobody more serious than Donald Trump,” Cohen told The Associated Press in 2014.
After the bids were properly submitted, Cohen told the AP that Trump’s proposal would not win. Cohen stated that the businessman was not interested in paying more than market value for the Bills, a team valued at $US870 million but expected to sell for up to $US1.2 billion.
According to another email produced in court, some Morgan Stanley bankers and an NFL executive met in early May 2014 to discuss hundreds of potential Bills buyers.
According to the email, the outcome of the talk with Trump was to “question his liquidity and ability to get votes” from other club owners in an approval vote. The league also stated that it will investigate management contracts for any Trump-branded casinos to see if he had any influence, even if not ownership.
Two months later, Trump hadn’t provided his financial documents, and his bid wasn’t the highest. Still, the bankers prepared talking points that told him his bid was below several others, but “you could prevail if during the diligence process you can move up in value”.
“Well… he will stay in process,” Holzschuh wrote to Cornwell a week later, adding that Trump “is very sensitive about his rep” and didn’t want to spend money on the process if the price was going to be too high. But, Holzschuh added, “I encouraged him to put his best offer forward and let the process work”.
Cornwell testified that since the sale was an open process, the bankers “had to talk to all interested parties”.
However, Trump lawyer Christopher Kise said that the bank practically dragged the billionaire along, saying, “They never considered him a serious bidder.” They brought him in to leverage his name to raise the price.”
Trump told the Associated Press in 2016 that if he could have bought the Bills, he would not have ran for president.
“If I bought that team, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing,” he was quoted as saying.
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