https://www.forbes.com/sites/monteb...-role-in-the-trump-organization/#7bdabb0b2a5a
…Ivanka specializes in acquisitions and design. Recently, though, her role has expanded, especially as the Trumps have ramped up their hotel and golf resort portfolios. “Ivanka was always a natural-born dealmaker,” says Donald. “But she’s become a very good builder and manager.”
In recent years, Ivanka has led the Trump Organization on some of its biggest deals…and has been given credit by those she’s negotiated with for her diligence and hard work, which sometimes puts her in contrast with her father’s style of negotiating:
…Ivanka has spearheaded two major projects: the purchase of the Doral Resort & Spa in Miami and the renovation of the
Old Post Office Pavilionin
Washington, D.C. In the process she has grown into a force in the boardroom. “I’m not sure Donald appreciates her enough,” says someone who has negotiated with her but wished to remain anonymous for competitive reasons. “He’s kind of an old school, seat-of-the-pants type of dealmaker. She’s the opposite: She’s done the work and put in the time. When she asks for something, she has all the research to back it up.”
On these two deals, Ivanka outflanked some big hitters in the real estate world, and was, according to her father, the driving force.
…[Ivanka] beat out the Waldorf Astoria, Hilton,
Pierre Omidyar and
Penny Pritzker, among others, to win the right to redevelop the Old Post Office Pavilion…But perhaps her biggest deal came…when she closed the purchase of the Doral Resort & Spa…
The Paulson/Winthrop group put the real estate portfolio that included Doral into bankruptcy in mid-2011. The Trumps were immediately interested. Ivanka, though counseled by her father, was the lead negotiator. “It was her deal,” says Donald.
There was, however, one slight complication: Ivanka was pregnant with her first child throughout the negotiations of the Doral deal:
In the ninth month of her pregnancy the sellers called to tell her they were accepting a higher bid. “I thought the deal was dead,” says Ivanka. Then, just a few days after she delivered Arabella in July, she got another call: The deal was back on. The Trumps became the “stalking horse bidders,” which gave them the right to match any subsequent bids, and the sellers were pressured to divest quickly. The only problem: Ivanka had to fly from New York to Miami to take one last look at the property, just to make sure, meaning she had to leave her week-old baby. “I hated leaving her, but I had to,” says Ivanka.
Within five days the contract was signed. Ivanka had worked out a deal [paying] a bargain-basement price of $150 million.
And, yet again, she left an indelible mark on the negotiations:
Michael Ashner, the chief executive of Winthrop, came away impressed with Ivanka’s negotiating skills. “She’s one of the smartest people I’ve worked with,” he says. “She’s got an even temperament, she’s articulate, she’s tough, and she is superb on due diligence and understanding the deal.”
