5. The Hotel Was Technically Both a Hilton and A Trump Hotel, at Separate Times

The Plaza under renovation in 2013

The Plaza Hotel has passed through a number of owners, most notably Conrad Hilton, who in 1943 bought the hotel for $7.4 million (now worth $101 million) and spent $6.0 million (now worth $81.8 million) renovating. Donald Trump bought the property in 1988 for a $407.5 million (now worth a staggering $812 million), saying to New York Magazine: “I haven’t purchased a building, I have purchased a masterpiece – the Mona Lisa. For the first time in my life, I have knowingly made a deal that was not economic – for I can never justify the price I paid, no matter how successful the Plaza becomes.” When Trump divorced his wife Ivana, then-president of the Plaza Hotel, he sold it for a comparatively meager $500 million.