The Corcoran Group is one of New York's premier real estate firms. Founded by Barbara Corcoran, she really built this enterprise from scratch (one thousand dollars). She began her work life as a school teacher, a waitress, etc., and a part-time real estate agent. Her association with Trump goes back to 1981 and, eventually, she and two other female partners served as real estate brokers for Trump, by bringing Hong Kong investors to his negotiating table. The agreement was these services amounted to four million dollars.
But Trump had not fulfilled his end of the agreement in 1994 and, when they accused him of breach of contract in the media,
he took them to court:
Corcoran and Trump haven't always seen eye-to-eye. In 1994, Corcoran accused Trump of not paying millions of dollars of commissions to two of her brokers who'd brought him key Hong Kong investors for his Riverside South project. Trump eventually agreed to pay a lower fee, and Corcoran signed a confidentiality agreement, but after Corcoran talked to New York Magazine about the deal, he decided to withhold her fee.
"The ink wasn't even dry when I got the call from New York," Trump remembers. But in a ruling later upheld by an appeals court, Trump was obliged to pay up.
So, Trump sued. Barbara Corcoran, the former school teacher, counter-sued. Trump was beaten in court and partly complied to the court ruling by paying 2.7 million dollars out of the four million he owed them. Barbara Corcoran took him to court again in 2005 to collect the balance. Trump appealed the decision in her favor and, according to the 2006 decision I have read, he won (but I'm not sure if what he won was a delay and the balance was paid later).
So what does Barbara Corcoran, a truly successful business woman, think of D. Trump?:
Donald Trump is a marketer above anything else. He doesn't build buildings anymore - he leases his name. He is a phenomenal businessman. I have worked with Donald Trump many times. He is excellent at reading people. He can spot a person and size them up immediately. He finds people and knows how to use them. Once he has gained all he can from a person, he disposes of them and steps on them. I have not only witnessed this behavior from him, but he has done it to me. This way he operates works for him, he has a constant revolving door and he can continue to bring in new people because of his enormous name recognition.
I think that I have an equally strong gift to size somebody up and decide how I can use him or her. But the difference between Donald and I is that I think about how I can lift them up and hang on for the ride. One method is a "people valuing" philosophy and the other method is a "people disposing" type philosophy. He is not a nice person. I have witnessed how he can work over someone - he is a first class bully.
When I was in court against him, there were 37 other cases against him. The reason - he uses and burns people out. Obviously, it works for him.
Up until that lawsuit with Donald Trump, in 28 years in the business, I had never been sued or sued someone else. I hate conflict. I feel it is negative energy and I would rather focus my time on something else.
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In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished—a word that for them has no sense—but abandoned....(Paul Valéry)