Donald Trump’s Business Ventures You’ve Never Heard About

He Owned Miss Universe, Miss USA & Miss Teen USA For Nearly 20 Years

Photo credit: Bobby Bank/WireImage via Getty Images

Trump owned part or all of the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA beauty pageants from 1996 to 2015. Miss Universe originally aired on CBS but moved to NBC along with Miss USA in 2002. In 2012, a contestant claimed the show was manipulated, but a $5 million arbitration came out in favor of Trump.

When Trump started his presidential campaign in 2015, NBC and Univision discontinued their business relationships with the Miss Universe Organization. Not long after, Trump revealed he purchased NBC’s stake in the company, making him the sole owner of the Miss Universe organization. He then sold it to WME/IMG.