Ivanka Trump

Ivanka Trump

Ivanka Marie Trump (born October 30, 1981 in New York City, New York) gained notoriety as the daughter of Ivana and Donald Trump, and a New York socialite. However, in her own right, she is a successful fashion model and businesswoman: she currently is Vice President of Real Estate Development and Acquisitions at the Trump Organization and one of her father’s judges on “The Apprentice: Season 6.” With all of these achievements under her belt, she has stated in interviews that she does not appreciate being compared to fellow socialite, Paris Hilton, and that, even though she comes from a wealthy family, she is not a “party girl,” and pays her own mortgage.

Early Life and Education

Born to Ivana and Donald Trump in New York, New York, Trump has an older brother, Donald Trump Jr. & younger brother, Eric. She attended the prestigous high school Choate Rosemary Hall, as well as Chapin. After graduation, she spent two years at Georgetown University; she then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Economics (Wharton School) where she graduated magna cum laude in 2004.

Modeling

The Trump family likes to tell the story of how Ivanka "fell into modeling." As the story goes, while Trump was at Choate Rosemary Hall, and her mother paid solely for her tuition. That left Ivanka to pay for her phone bills and other expenses. Subsequently, she was compelled to find a job to pay for other “life-needs,” and so she turned to modeling at the age of 16.

She, almost immediately, landed her first cover on a 1997 issue of Seventeen and also went on to be the cover girl for Elle magazine as well. Since then she has made her way down fashion runways for Versace, Marc Bouwer and Thierry Mugler; she has also done ad campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger and Sassoon Jeans.

She was featured on the cover of Stuff magazine in August 2006, where she named Joaquin Phoenix as a "big celebrity crush," and described Christian Bale as "a sort of Adonis."

She is currently represented by Elite Model Management.

Television Appearances

In 1997, she hosted the Miss Teen USA Pageant, which her father produces.

Trump gained fame in 2003 when she was featured in Born Rich, a documentary about the experience of growing up as a child in one of the world's most affluent families, which also featured other "rich kids," Georgina Bloomberg, Si Newhouse IV, Jamie Johnson and more.

Trump was a featured guest-judge on “Project Runway: Season 3” in 2006.

Most recently, she came to the defense of her father in his ongoing war of words with Rosie O'Donnell, the host of "The View" when she lambasted Donald Trump for giving Miss America, Tara Connor, a second chance after she was caught drinking at New York clubs even though she was not of legal drinking age, and doing Cocaine. Ivanka Trump claimed that O’Donnell "instigated" the feud and she accuses the talk show host of "bullying people for a long time." She said: “I think it was unfair, it was uncalled for and, quite frankly, there was no reason for it...As my father said, she, too, has had a lot of second chances. You know, there's nothing surprising about the fact that my dad's gonna come back with a vengeance anytime anyone says anything negative against him"

Though, even with all of the television appearances, she has said, "I [am a] much more private [person than my father] — never loved the spotlight all that much. Except for my brief — perhaps a mistake — modeling stint to break up the monotony of boarding-school existence."

She was also offered to appear in the television show, “The Bachelorette,” but she declined

"The Apprentice"

In 2006, she filled in for Carolyn Kepcher on five episodes of her father's television program “The Apprentice: Season 5,” first appearing to help judge the Gillette task in the second week. She has already appeared on several episodes with her brother, Donald Trump, Jr., with Donald Trump, Sr. referring to his two children with the grammatically incorrect phrase, "two true Apprenti." Like Kepcher, Trump visited the site of the tasks and spoke to the teams, asking them pointed questions. She also evaluated contestants in the boardroom, pointing out critical errors and rebutting excuses they offered for losing the tasks. Though initially unsympathetic to the contestants, Trump later said, "whenever I see their breakdowns, I understand. They go virtually 24 hours a day, and each task takes about three days. Unless they win, they don’t get a day off...It’s an incredible amount of work."

Ivanka Trump went on to replace Carolyn Kepcher as a primary boardroom judge, beginning with “The Apprentice: Season 6.”

Bonafide Business Woman

Before working for her father as Vice President of Real Estate Development and Acquisitions at the Trump Organization, Ivanka worked for Forest City Enterprises.

Personal Life and Media Attention

During an April 2006 appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” Trump said that she and former boyfriend Bingo Gubelmann had broken up, yet they remain good friends. She also used the word "ultimately" (a favorite word of her father's) so many times during her interview that it prompted Leno to comment that he could hear her father's influence and inflections in her.

Donald Trump mentioned his daughter in a segment that was taped for the daytime television program, “The View,” saying that if Ivanka wasn't his daughter he would date her.

Trump dated Lance Armstrong for a short time in 2006, and as of November 1, 2006, Trump was dating television and movie actor, Topher Grace. Even though, Trump claims that she respects her father as a business mentor, she has admitted she tends to avoid his love advice: "He has very strong opinions - which I try not to listen to." She said that she has avoided introducing boyfriends to her father for as long as possible but adds, "He hasn't threatened bodily harm to any of the people I've dated. Well, as far as I know."

Her father doesn't have to worry about his little girl getting photographed partying like other well known heiresses. Trump has said "I like to have fun with my friends and go out at night, but you're not going to find me dancing on top of tables or see me trashed outside of Bungalow 8” – probably referring to another socialite, Paris Hilton.

Though, she has referred to Hilton directly in one interview with London Express in 2007 when she said, “I work 13-hour days for my money…I bought my house from my father — I have a mortgage, you know.” She thinks her and Paris Hilton “are totally different individuals… If I were to go off the rails and become this party kid, I would not be able to afford my lifestyle. I’ve never had a sense of entitlement. I saw how hard my father worked for his money and it was always made very clear to me that things wouldn’t just be given to me.” And that mortgage she pays was pretty expensive: Trump reportedly paid $1.5 million for a two-bedroom apartment at 502 Park Avenue.

Trump is considered one of the top ranking New York socialites; and one of the few to make the transition over to the tabloid magazine pages.