Oligarchs and the Trump Admin: Tom Barrack

Who is Tom Barrack?

Net worth: $1 Billion (As of April, 2026)

• Tom Barrack is the current ambassador to Turkey. In 2021, Barrack was charged with “acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Justice Department, a violation that carries up to 10 years in prison. In addition, he was charged with obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI about his UAE contacts during a 2019 interview with federal agents.”
  
  • While Barrack was under investigation, Trump sought to distance himself from Barrack, publicly expressing concerns over Barrack’s handling of the inauguration fund.
    
  • In November 2022, Barrack was acquitted of all charges.

• Barrack is the founder of Colony Capital, now known as Digital Bridge, which he headed for 30 years. Barrack stepped down from the firm, which transitioned its brand to Digital Bridge, when he was arrested on federal charges of “illegally lobbying…on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.” 

• Digital Bridge was criticized as a vehicle for Barrack to enrich himself personally while generating mixed or disappointing returns for investors.

• Barrack used investor money to buy Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson’s property, and allow Jackson to continue living there during the 2008 mortgage crisis.
  
• In 2020, Colony “defaulted on $3.2 billion in debt backed by hotel and health care properties, according to the Financial Times.”
  

• Barrack has supplemented his fortune by profiting off of the housing crisis and Great Recession of 2008-09. Barrack built a rental empire called Colony Starwood Homes, boasting about his ability to buy properties that had been foreclosed on, cheaply renovate them, and rent them for a profit, while facing widespread charges of leaving properties in dangerous and at times uninhabitable conditions for renters with nowhere else to turn.
  
• Barrack is a longtime business associate and personal friend of Donald Trump’s. Barrack made a name for himself by brokering Trump’s $400 million dollar purchase of the Plaza Hotel in 1988, and the two remained connected thereafter. 
  
• Barrack was a senior advisor during Trump’s first campaign, and chaired Trump’s 2016 inaugural committee. 

• Barrack raised $107 million for Trump’s inauguration fund. This fund, and Barrack’s handling of it, came under scrutiny when he was investigated for offering foreign actors access to Trump.
  
• In 2021,  Barrack was charged with “acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Justice Department, a violation that carries up to 10 years in prison. In addition, he was charged with obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI about his UAE contacts during a 2019 interview with federal agents.”
  
  • While Barrack was under investigation, Trump sought to distance himself from Barrack, publicly expressing concerns over Barrack’s handling of the inauguration fund.
    
  • In November 2022, Barrack was acquitted of all charges.

• Recently, the Santa Barbera Independent reported Ambassador Barrack, had a “years long” friendship with billionaire predator Jeffrey Epstein. The newspaper analyzed more than a 100 texts and emails between them that included “social invitations, meetings with heads of state, and talk of business opportunities.” In January 20212, Barrack referred to Epstein as his role model – this coming after Epstein’s conviction for soliciting a minor.

How is Tom Tom Barrack benefitting from the Trump Administration? 

• On, December 2024, Trump nominated Barrack to be the US Ambassador to Turkey, as well as special Envoy to Syria, citing his experience managing a global private equity firm as his qualifications. Barrack, like many others in the Trump circle, and may well use it to enrich himself. After all, his firm already has interests in Turkey, according to an SEC filing.

For more information, see the Revolving Door Project’s Oligarchs in Trump World tracker.