In Trump’s world, the former president was up against the wall after losing his civil case, in which he, his sons, and his organization were found liable for fraud in New York. To appeal the astronomical judgment, he had to post a bond of $464 million. Trump seemingly lucked out after an appellate judge dropped his required bond from half a billion bucks to only $175 million. Only.
In a CNN report, Don Hankey, the chairman and majority shareholder of Knight Specialty Insurance, saved Trump as the underwriter of the $175 million. As Hankey put it, the deal came together quickly. And get this: Trump supposedly posted all cash as collateral.
“It’s what we do. I’m happy to do it. We would have done it for anybody else,” Hankey said in a phone interview. “It was an easy transaction. It was put together very quickly.” Knight Specialty Insurance is based in California, and is known for providing subprime auto loans to car buyers with weaker credit scores. Oh, they do that type of business. “We had a conversation about putting together a bond of that size,” Hankey said to CNN.
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It’s not a coincidence that Hankey came to the rescue. He has supported Trump’s presidential campaigns in the past. CNN reports that he “initially reached out to the Trump Organization last month when the former president was having trouble putting together a bond of $464 million.” Hankey is pretty well off and has a fortune that Forbes values at $7.4 billion.
“Ultimately, he put up all cash,” Hankey added but says he does not know where the $175 million in cash that Trump posted came from. It is interesting that they don’t do any due diligence on a transaction of that magnitude.
It’s no surprise that Hankey told CNN that he, along with his wife and two sons, have all donated to Trump’s presidential campaigns and will support him again in 2024. Well, everybody is entitled to their own opinion.
Even with all that he has done Hankey said he hasn;t event heard directly from Trump, but he said Trump’s son Eric reached out Tuesday to thank him for the business. How nice of him.