Elections

Looks like Trump can pick some stocks

Real estate mogul Donald Trump's presidential campaign wants you to know that he's really, really rich.

In a news release Wednesday, it trumpeted Trump's net worth in capital letters: "TEN BILLION DOLLARS."

The campaign said the value of his assets has increased sharply as a result of a rise in the value of his real estate holdings in New York, San Francisco, Miami and elsewhere.

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses supporters during a rally at the Phoenix Convention Center on July 11, 2015.
Getty Images

But the release, which was put out by the campaign and is not a legal filing with the Federal Election Commission, also reveals a side of Trump's business acumen he's not necessarily famous for: stock picking.

The campaign wants you to know he's pretty great at that, too. "He was successful in choosing multiple stocks which were sold in January 2014," the news release said. "Even though stock market purchases are not something that Mr. Trump has focused on in the past, and while only a small part of his net worth, 40 of the 45 stocks purchased went up in a relatively short period of time."

Trump's total self-reported profit on stock sales in 2014? More than $27 million.

How did he do it? According to the campaign, Trump invested primarily in well-known, brand-name companies like Apple, Ford, Microsoft and Volkswagen.

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His biggest gainers were Bank of America, at $6.7 million in profit, Boeing, at $3.96 million, and Facebook, at $3.85 million.

But even reality TV stars make the occasional bad pick. Trump's campaign said he lost money on D.R. Horton, with a loss of more than $204,000, Occidental Petroleum, with a loss of over $121,000, and Enbridge, with a loss of more than $82,000.

A campaign spokesman told CNBC he couldn't say whether Trump made these investment decisions himself or with the help of an outside advisor.

Separately, Trump's campaign reported holdings in several well-known hedge funds, including more than $4 million with Paulson Partners, nearly $5 million with Angelo Gordon & Co. and Eleven Partners, and more than $2 million with MidOcean Credit Opportunities.

His investment losses came from holdings in Paulson Advantage Plus, with a loss of more than $1.4 million, and Barclay's bank, with a decline in value of over $23,000. All told, Trump's campaign said he made more than $22 million with his hedge fund, mutual fund and bank investments.

Also, Trump disclosed for the first time that NBC paid him more than $213 million over the course of 14 seasons on the reality TV show "The Apprentice." A spokeswoman for NBC declined to comment on that figure.

For 2014, Trump's campaign said the candidate had total income of $362 million, not including dividends, interest, capital gains, rents and royalties.

Disclosure: NBC is part of NBC Universal, as is CNBC.