40 Wall Street: In 1982, Joseph J. and Ralph E. Bernstein purchased leasing rights of 40 Wall Street and were later found to be acting on behalf of Ferdinand E. Marcos, the President of the Philippines.

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In 1982, Joseph J. and Ralph E. Bernstein purchased leasing rights of 40 Wall Street and were later found to be acting on behalf of Ferdinand E. Marcos, the President of the Philippines. When Marcos was removed from power and his assets in the United States were frozen, the building was placed in limbo.[30] Citicorp then decided to undertake a $50 million renovation of 40 Wall Street, but the renovation was canceled in 1991 due to concerns that the tenants might move out.[31]
In December 1995, after years of neglect, the lease was transferred to Donald Trump, who later renamed the building the "Trump Building".[32][33] He planned to convert the upper half of it to residential space, leaving the bottom half as commercial space. The cost of converting it to residential space proved to be too high, and it remains 100% commercial space.[34] He tried to sell the building in 2003, expecting offers in excess of $300 million. They did not materialize. In the ninth episode of the fourth season of The Apprentice, Trump claimed he only paid $1 million for the building, but that it was actually worth $400 million. This episode aired November 17, 2005. Trump's legal advisor, George H. Ross, restated this claim in a 2005 book.[35]
On CNBC's The Billionaire Inside, Trump again claimed he paid $1 million for the building, but stated the value as $600 million, a $200 million increase from two years earlier. The episode aired October 17, 2007, on CNBC. However, it has also been reported that Trump paid $10 million for the building and the building is now worth $1 billion.[36] According to 2015 Federal Election Commission filings, Trump has an outstanding mortgage on the property in excess of $50 million.[37]
In 1998, the building was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The tower was the tallest mid-block building in New York City until the completion of One57 in 2014.[38]

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