At 19, Barron Trump has become a surprising success in the Trump family. The NYU sophomore, who likely introduced his dad to cryptocurrency, now has $150 million.
Barron has been a valuable source for educating his dad about crypto. Meanwhile, this young college student is amassing wealth at an early stage in life.
“I have a very tall son named Barron. Has anyone ever heard of him?” Donald Trump joked at an inauguration event in January. His youngest son, around six feet eight inches, rarely appears in public. Standing and waving, Trump said, “Barron told me, ‘Dad, you need to go on Joe Rogan.'” He thanked Barron for helping to attract young voters.
Barron also taught his father a thing or two about crypto, which has boosted the president’s wealth. Last year, Barron started World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm. He co-founded it with his father and brothers.
This was just two months before the 2024 election. Most financial advisors usually don’t recommend getting parents into crypto. But most parents aren’t running for president. When Trump won, World Liberty soared, adding over $1.5 billion to the Trump family’s wealth. Barron owns about 10% of that, which is around $150 million.
Born in 2006 to Trump’s third wife, Barron was just nine when Trump announced his presidential bid in 2015. Among the presidential children, Barron has kept the lowest profile. He moved to D.C. a few months after his dad in 2017. He reportedly enrolled in a Maryland private school. Tuition there is over $50,000 a year.
In 2018, Melania changed her prenuptial agreement. This helped secure better inheritance terms for Barron. It also gave her more say in the family business, as noted in “The Art of Her Bargain,” a 2020 biography. Barron joined World Liberty in 2024, when he went to college. This was during his father’s campaign for a third term. His first attempt proved quite profitable.
DT Marks Defi LLC, managing the Trump family’s investments in World Liberty, received 22.5 billion $WLFI tokens in September 2024. The company received 75% of World Liberty’s income after the first $15 million in profits.
This was in exchange for backing the project and letting them use the Trump name. Trump owned 70% of DT Marks Defi LLC at the start of the year, while his family held the other 30%. Eric, Don Jr., and Barron Trump were listed as co-founders, suggesting they each had a 10% share of that 30%. Future agreements may have changed their ownership percentages.
At first, the 10% held little significance. World Liberty tokens couldn’t be resold or transferred once bought. Also, token sales were not strong. After Trump won the election, crypto billionaire Justin Sun announced a $75 million investment in the project. Trump’s SEC paused its investigation into Sun in February, which drew significant attention. Sales soared almost immediately. By August, World Liberty sold about $675 million in tokens, according to company reports. Barron’s share, after taxes, amounts to around $38 million.
In March, World Liberty launched another product: a stablecoin, USD1, pegged to the U.S. dollar. The market cap is about $2.6 billion, indicating the business is worth around $880 million. A Trump family entity owns 38% of this venture, making Barron’s share worth roughly $34 million.
In August, World Liberty entered a deal with Alt5 Sigma, a publicly traded healthcare firm. Alt5 Sigma traded around 1,000 shares for a big stake in its stock. This totaled one million shares and included warrants worth $119 million. The warrants depend on prices going above $7.50. Alt5 Sigma raised funds from investors to buy $717 million in World Liberty tokens. They sent over $500 million to the Trump business and about $41 million to Barron after taxes.
Barron received about 2.25 billion World Liberty tokens. This is 10% of the initial 22.5 billion given to Trump’s company. Initially, Forbes assigned a value of $0 to these tokens since they couldn’t be sold. But in August, token holders voted to release 20% of the coins, excluding those held by founders.
Future votes will determine whether to unlock the remaining tokens and allow trades. Tokens are currently selling for about 20 cents each. Forbes undervalues the tokens that Barron and the other founders own. This is due to certain restrictions. Considering all factors, Barron’s 10% share is estimated to be worth about $45 million today.
In total, this adds up to over $150 million, quite a sum for a 19-year-old college student. Barron, with no other known assets, could pay his $67,430 NYU tuition more than 2,200 times with that money.
