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Tim

Jan 21 • 17 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X

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Mar-a-Lago in 1985:

A 126-room mansion nobody wanted.

Then, Donald Trump bought it for $7M.

It hemorrhaged money for years... Until Trump had a genius idea that transformed it into a $40M a year cash cow.

Here's the full story🧵

Mar-a-Lago wasn't just any property.

Built in the 1920s by cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, it was designated as a National Historic Landmark.

The name means "Sea to Lake" in Spanish - reflecting its unique location.

Here's where it gets interesting:

When Post died, she willed the estate to the US government.

But they returned it to her foundation. The maintenance costs were too high.

For years, the property sat empty. No one wanted to take on the financial burden.

Until Trump came along...

In 1985, Trump saw an opportunity others missed. But his initial bid for Mar-a-Lago was denied.

So, he strategically bought land between Mar-a-Lago and the ocean for $2M, causing competing interest to decline.

Result?

He nabbed the 126-room mansion for just $7M. But he soon realized why others stayed away.

The property was hemorrhaging money...

Due to its historical significance, there were preservation requirements.

Plus:

• High-end amenities to maintain
• Extensive renovations needed
• Massive operational costs

For years, it seemed like a massive mistake...

Then Trump had an idea that would change everything:

Instead of keeping it as a private residence, he'd turn it into an exclusive private club.

But not just any club...

He'd make it the most prestigious club in Palm Beach.

The transformation began in 1994:

• Five clay tennis courts
• Trump Spa and Salon
• Luxury guest suites
• Beach Club access
• Waterfront pool

But the real genius was in the membership structure:

Trump created artificial scarcity.

He capped membership at 500 people with an initiation fee of $25,000.

The wealthy elite of Palm Beach were practically begging to join.

By 2014?

It was generating $15.6M annually.

The property that was once bleeding money became a cash cow.

And today? It makes over $40M a year.

Having a Mar-a-Lago membership meant you were "somebody."

This is where it gets interesting...

The member list reads like a Who's Who:

• Billionaire William I. Koch
• Finance mogul Thomas Peterffy
• Real estate titan Richard LeFrak
• Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy

Trump wasn't just selling access. He was selling status.

That's why I love this story so much:

Trump took a product and turned it into a story people wanted to be a part of.

And we've spent the past 2 years developing a way for founders to do the same thing...

You see, people today don't buy from companies. They buy from people. From stories.

They don't trust the swathes of AI-generated content & corporate BS anymore.

Think about it:

Elon Musk. Logan Paul. The Kardashians...

They're businesses dependent on the stories of PEOPLE. And the best way to create this same effect?

The same thing Trump's been doing all his life:

Cultivate a personal brand. It's an asset that'll pay dividends for life...

When you build a strong personal brand, you create your own Mar-a-Lago effect:

• Customers seek YOU out
• Investors want to back YOU
• Top talent wants to work with YOU

All while you sleep.

Ready to get started?

Founders: We’ll build your personal/company brand on 𝕏 (and beyond) without you lifting a finger.

To date, we've already helped 100+ founders get 3+ Billion combined views.

Interested in how we can do this for you? Book your free discovery call here: form.typeform.com/to/JWuXNkxQ?ut…

Thanks for reading! A bit about me:

2 years ago, I cofounded @ThoughtleadrX — a premium personal branding agency for world-class founders, executives, and investors looking to dominate socials.

If you enjoyed this, hit "follow" for more breakdowns!

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More from @timthoughtleadr

Tim

@timthoughtleadr

Sep 5

A new study just confirmed it:

Elon Musk will be the world’s first TRILLIONAIRE by 2027.

Not from Tesla. Not from SpaceX.

But from one brilliant move that proves he's the world's smartest CEO.

Here’s his genius plan:

First, let's talk about that wild prediction.

Informa Connect Academy's latest report shows Musk's wealth growing 110% annually since 2020.

That's not normal growth. That's wealth creation on a different level.

At this pace, he'll hit $1 trillion in just 2 years...

Musk's current net worth sits between $330-424 billion in 2025.

That's more than most countries' GDP.

Tesla and SpaceX have been the main wealth drivers.

But there's a wild card accelerating everything:

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Elon Musk just stole 40 elite AI engineers from Google.

Then he grabbed another 14 from Meta.

Meanwhile, Meta threw $100M offers at workers to convince them to stay.

But $100M was nothing compared to what Elon promised them.

Here's the offer no one could resist:

The AI talent war is brutal right now.

Meta's throwing $100 MILLION pay packages at their best engineers.

Google, Meta, OpenAI, and Elon Musk's xAI are all fighting for the same elite minds.

4 of Elon's engineers joined OpenAI. Musk's defeated, right?

While everyone watched those 4 leave, something else was happening quietly.

Musk recruited 14 AI researchers from Meta since January 2025 alone.

Plus 40 former Google employees.

Despite the $100M pay packets...

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@timthoughtleadr

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Trump hammered India with 50% tariffs for using Russian Oil.

When Modi found out...

He cut Trump off and declined 4 back-to-back phone calls.

But this wasn't about the tariffs––Modi saw something much, much darker.

Here's what really caused India to abandon America:

First, some context.

For 25 years, the U.S.-India relationship grew stronger. They called it "the most consequential partnership of the 21st century."

Defense deals. Tech cooperation. Trade agreements.

Now? Modi won't even answer the phone:

World leaders rarely ignore U.S. presidents like this.

Putin did it to Obama in 2014 during the Ukraine crisis. De Gaulle famously snubbed American leaders in the 1960s over NATO disputes.

Each time signaled something serious.

Modi's silence feels different:

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Tim

@timthoughtleadr

Aug 27

China now controls 1 in 3 of the world's most powerful AI models.

When America realized how China outplayed them, all hell broke loose...

Now OpenAI, Nvidia, and Silicon Valley elites have just joined forces to orchestrate a $100M counter-attack.

Here's their brilliant plan:

Let me explain what China is doing.

Open-source AI is like releasing a recipe instead of just selling the cake.

Anyone can use it. Modify it. Build on it.

No fees. No restrictions.

China is all-in on open source. Here's why:

Healthcare algorithms. Banking systems. Military tech.

In China, they're all built on these foundational, open-source models.

America's ChatGPT?

You've got to pay up if you want the latest model.

But the real shock came when China's "DeepSeek" did the impossible:

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Tim

@timthoughtleadr

Aug 25

JD Vance just stopped the UK government from spying on your iPhone.

The UK gave Apple 2 brutal options:

"Give us worldwide access to every user's data, or pay us $10M a day."

Legal experts said Apple couldn't win.

So Vance went head-to-head with the UK himself:

First, some context.

In early 2025, the UK government invoked its "Snooper's Charter."

This gave them power to force tech companies to break their own encryption.

Apple was their first target:

The demand was simple but devastating.

Create a backdoor into iCloud that would let the UK government access any user's data.

Not just UK citizens. All 1.5 billion Apple users worldwide.

The penalties for refusing were brutal:

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Tim

@timthoughtleadr

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Trump deployed 3 warships to Venezuela to hunt them down.

But Venezuela struck back.

Now the Cartel war just became something much, much bigger:

First, the crisis that sparked everything.

Over 70,000 Americans fall victim to fentanyl overdoses every single year.

That's more casualties than the entire Vietnam War.

Traditional law enforcement? It doesn't work.

Here's why:

Only 10-15% of fentanyl entering the US gets intercepted.

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And cartels operated like businesses.

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