Ask Matt: Can I invest in Donald Trump?

Q: Can I invest in Donald Trump? 

A: Donald Trump has carefully crafted his name into gold in the minds of many members of the public. But public investors haven't had as much luck.

Most of Trump's financial activities occur within Trump Organization LLC. The company does not offer stock to be bought by the public. It mainly own stakes in a variety of Trump-branded real-estate operations such as Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Ireland. The fact these investments are closely held makes it's difficult to separate what they are worth and how Trump has performed.

Investors could invest in a Trump-controlled company in the 1990s: Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts. Trump was chairman of the board back in the late 1990s, owned 41% of the company in 1999 and drew a $1 million a year salary from the company for years. But investors didn't do so well. Investors who bought the stock when the company went public in 1995 lost 87% of their money by 1999. The company also settled charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1999 for "making misleading statements" in its third-quarter 1999 earnings release. Trump hasn't owned the company for years due to a number of restructurings. The company emerged from bankruptcy for the fourth time in February 2016 leaving it a unit of Carl Icahn's Icahn Enterprises, Bloomberg News says.

But Trump himself told Paste BN who really benefited from the company. "People that don't understand finance might not understand," Trump told Paste BN in August 2004 ahead of a filing for bankruptcy protection. But "for intelligent people, (the restructuring) enhances the (Trump) brand."

Paste BN markets reporter Matt Krantz answers a different reader question every weekday. To submit a question, e-mail Matt at mkrantz@usatoday.com or on Twitter @mattkrantz.