Low-Key ‘Wallpaper’ Jewish Exec Catapults to Top of Trump Organization
Image by TrumpTowerNY.com
By Josh Nathan-Kazis January 11, 2017
The Trump Organization’s low-profile CFO just got a big-time promotion.
Allen Weisselberg, who has played a key role in Donald Trump’s ventures for decades, will lead The Trump Organization alongside Trump’s two sons throughout the president-elect’s White House tenure.
“Together, Don, Eric and Allen will have the authority to manage The Trump Organization and will make decisions for the duration of the presidency without any involvement whatsoever by President-elect Trump,” said Sherri Dillon, an attorney representing The Trump Organization, at a Wednesday press conference.
In addition to his role at The Trump Organization, Weisselberg has held positions at a number of Trump-related entities, according to a November Wall Street Journal profile. He is treasurer of The Donald J. Trump Foundation, the New York-based nonprofit now the subject of an inquiry by the New York State Attorney General. He was also on the board of the Miss Universe Organization.
Unlike other Trump confidants, such as real estate attorney Jason Greenblatt and special counsel Michael Cohen, Weisselberg has had almost no public profile. He is also a quiet figure within The Trump Organization itself, according to the Wall Street Journal piece. “He fits in with the wallpaper,” one former employee told the paper. “That’s how he’s survived.”
Now, Weisselberg, 69, is set to be the most powerful person at the company, alongside Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, men both about half his age.
Weisselberg was born in Brooklyn and attended Pace University before going to work for Donald Trump’s father, Fred Trump. As of 2005, he lived in Nassau County on Long Island.
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Texas bakery reportedly becomes first bagel shop to be named James Beard Award finalist
-
Fast Forward ‘That’s Simchas Torah’: The Jewish Val Kilmer moment you might have missed
-
Fast Forward From ‘October 8’ to ‘The Encampments,’ these new documentaries illuminate the post-Oct. 7 American experience
-
Fast Forward Jews at Tufts are furious over ICE seizing a pro-Palestinian grad student. But they’re wary of joining protests for her.
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 2
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
- 3
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 4
Fast Forward Cory Booker’s rabbi has notes on Booker’s 25-hour speech
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion This is my last column as editor of the Forward
-
Books Unwieldy, unnerving, and a masterpiece — the last great Yiddish novel has arrived
-
Fast Forward Texas bakery reportedly becomes first bagel shop to be named James Beard Award finalist
-
Fast Forward ‘That’s Simchas Torah’: The Jewish Val Kilmer moment you might have missed
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.