Portrait of the 'king of bankruptcy' chosen by Trump as Secretary of Commerce

Wilbur Ross is a billionaire nicknamed 'King of Bankruptcies', because he specializes in buying bankrupt companies to restructure and make a profit.

Trusted by President-elect Donald Trump to be Commerce Secretary, Mr. Ross - 79 years old this year - is a famous investor specializing in restructuring failing companies in areas such as steel, coal, telecommunications, textiles and foreign investment.

Billionaire Wilbur Ross

Forbes magazine estimates his total assets at around 2.9 billion USD.

Ross is known worldwide for his foresight, for spotting and seizing opportunities in chaos. His greatest achievement was building a giant steel company out of three bankrupt steel companies.

During the years 1967-1971, due to the impact of the economic recession, American industry in the Rust Belt, the northeast, declined dramatically. A series of businesses suffered losses and went bankrupt, especially in the steel industry.

Wilbur Ross saw that the steel industry was indispensable to the economy and that it would thrive again when the recession passed. With that mindset, Ross decided to buy three closed steel companies at once, including Bethlehem Steel, Von LTV and Acme Steel, and build a new steel corporation called ISG.

As Ross had predicted, the steel industry boomed after the economic recovery and ISG quickly rose to become the second largest steel producer in the US, with an output of 18 million tons per year.

With this success, Wilbur Ross is on par with the legendary American steel king, billionaire Andrew Carnegie.

In addition to ISG, Ross has also successfully seized opportunities from many other high-profile bankruptcies. He believes that the difficulty lies not only in the professional aspects such as analyzing corporate finances, determining market share, and understanding the causes of bankruptcy, but also in negotiation techniques.

He has developed a skillful negotiation strategy with various partners, achieving results through astute analysis and persuasive arrangements.

In his new position as head of the Commerce Department of the world's largest economy, the "King of Bankruptcies" will represent the interests of American businesses both at home and abroad. He will play a special role in drafting the President-elect's plans for tax cuts and infrastructure.

Billionaire Ross believes that the majority of Americans are discontented with the economy that has left middle-class workers behind. According to him, President-elect Trump represents a "convenient, non-political" shift.

"Part of the reason I support Trump is because I think we need a progressive administration that has a different approach, at least in the United States, than previous administrations," Ross once said on CNBC.

According to Vietnamnet