Students Of Wharton: Trump Does ‘Not Represent Us,’ ‘We Are Dedicated To Inclusion’

For those who have heard him speak, it isn’t very difficult to miss where Donald Trump went to school. Trump is a graduate of the business program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, something that he isn’t shy about advertising. An open letter, hosted with Medium, panning Trump, has been written by current and former students of Wharton. Trump does “not represent us,” the letter reads.

“Can you tell that Donald Trump went to Wharton?” Jacob Soboroff of MSNBC asked in April, after viewing a number of clips featuring Trump. “Wharton,” “Wharton School of Finance,” “The Wharton School,” Trump can be heard repeatedly stating.

The Wharton letter to Trump was signed by 1,385 alumni from many graduating classes.

The students began by acknowledging an understanding of why Trump would want to use his “degree from Wharton to promote and lend legitimacy” to his run for presidential office. The letter states the belief of the students that Trump’s candidacy presents a “transformative opportunity” for Wharton; Trump has the chance to make the alumni “prouder of our school and values.”

“The Wharton community is a diverse community. We represent the groups that you have repeatedly denigrated, as well as their steadfast friends, family, and allies.”

The alumni go on to state a recognition of the fact that they are “fortunate” to have the chance to attend Wharton, an Ivy League school, as reported by Business Insider, and that, as a group, they believe in “promoting inclusion” and that they hold “mutual respect and human dignity” as fundamental values.

“We… unequivocally reject the use of your education at Wharton as a platform for promoting prejudice and intolerance,” the Wharton/Trump letter continues. The alumni conclude, writing of their “unwavering commitment” to promoting inclusion for all groups in the United States.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a former professor with the University of Pennsylvania, has made light of what some feel is a lack of business savvy displayed by Donald Trump, as previously reported by the Inquisitr.

Estimates for how much Donald Trump received from his father in the 1970s range from $40 million to as much as $200 million, which Trump himself has stated is incorrect, as reported by the Washington Post.

A range of estimates are also available for the Wharton alumnus’ current net worth; the exact amount is challenging, even for financial professionals, to ascertain.

If Donald Trump inherited $40 million and instead of managing it himself, had entrusted his capital to Warren Buffett and purchased shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A, BRK-B), they would be worth about $200 billion today; one estimate of his current net worth is $4.5 billion, a significant amount less. Further, analysis of his dozens of stock holdings, held in a number of brokerage accounts with several firms, seemed to go against well-known advice given by Warren Buffett.

“Keep all your eggs in one basket, but watch that basket closely,” the Berkshire CEO has been quoted. Warren Buffett has graduated from both the University of Nebraska and Columbia University. However, the Wharton School of Business is where Buffett attended his first two years of college, as reported by The Motley Fool.

Buffett may have more insight into the Wharton/Trump letter than most. The billionaire spoke about Donald Trump’s business acumen in 1991.

“He simply got infatuated with how much money he could borrow, and he did not give enough thought to how much money he could pay back,” was how the “Oracle of Omaha” described his one-time fellow Wharton alumnus, as reported by Yahoo! Finance.

While Forbes currently estimates Donald Trump’s net worth at about $4.5 billion, which he disputes and claims is closer to $10 billion, the financial publication lists Warren Buffett’s net worth as $67.2 billion; this amount does not appear to be under contention.

[Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images]