A Wall Street banker describes the time Donald Trump offered to seal a deal with a $1 million coin flip

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July 12, 2017 4:54 PM

Ken Moelis describes the time in the early 1990s when he sealed a deal with Donald Trump with a million-dollar coin flip.

Before Ken Moelis was running one of Wall Street's top boutique investment banking firms, Moelis and Company, he served as a banker to Donald Trump.

In the early 1990s, when the newly opened Trump Taj Mahal was floundering and in need of financing, Moelis hopped a red eye to New York to take a meeting with the real estate magnate, he recounted in an interview with Institutional Investor's Julie Segal.

The meeting was unorthodox, according to Moelis, then an emerging star withDonaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette (DLJ).

After stopping at 7/11 for three Big Gulps of coffee, he met with Trump, who caught him off guard by wanting to cut a deal after talking for less than an hour.

Here's Moelis (emphasis added):

Moelis was still relatively new at DLJ at the time, so he wondered whether this would violate company policy. He ultimately decided if he didn't flip the coin, Trump would "just use that to bully me into taking the lower fee."

So, after examining the coin to make sure it was legit, he agreed to play Trump's game. And it did not go well.

Moelis flipped the coin like some "truly bad coin flipper" and it flew across the table toward Trump, which he instantly knew was a mistake.

"I knew Donald well enough to know if that coin hits the floor, I'll never know who won the coin flip. I'll never forget trying to dive over the conference room table with all the pens in the middle," Moelis recalled in the interview.

Moelis "tried desperately to go see the coin," but before he could catch a glimpse, Trump picked it up and said, "Heads. You lose."

Check out the full interview with Moelis at Institutional Investor.

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