Diligence is the mother of good luck.
—Benjamin Franklin}
“The Harder I Work,
the Luckier I Get”I
’ve always been big on quotes, whether they’re mine or some-
one else’s, because very often they distill ideas down to their
essence. What Ben Franklin said many years ago could have been
said today, because it’s relevant and right on. We’ve all heard about
doing our “due diligence,” which is another way of being thor-
ough. It’s also the first step to bringing yourself some good luck.
What Gary Player, the great golfer, said—quoted above as the title
of this essay—remains solid nutshell advice that can apply to
everyone.
The mixed-use concept of hotel and condominiums has been
a huge success, starting with the first one I did in New York City
in the late 1990s, Trump International Hotel & Tower at 1 Cen-
tral Park West. Since then I’ve built hotel towers in Chicago and
Las Vegas, with many more in the works around the world. Our
tower in Waikiki was sold out in five hours, which is a record. Peo-
ple ask me, “How can you do so much?” and I have to say it really
isn’t luck, but doing due diligence and applying common sense.