C.E.O. is a reality-based game show where the selected contestants compete with each other in a corporate environment for promotions, perks and benefits. The ultimate winner will be named C.E.O. of a real corporation.
—Slide 3, PowerPoint pitch created by Mark Bethea in 2000
Many observers credit one person above all others for Trump landing in the White House: Mark Burnett, the California-based creator of The Apprentice and Survivor. Without the prime-time TV exposure of The Apprentice, which for 14 seasons over 11 years presented Trump as a decisive business titan, hiring and firing in a wood-paneled conference room, many Americans would not have encountered a fleshed-out conception of Trump as a leader.
The Trump on The Apprentice was a character inspired by the real Trump. Having abandoned his exploration of a presidential run in 2000, Trump paused most of his political talk and returned to the private sector as a real estate developer and casino operator.
After a Hollywood writers strike in 2001 took scripted shows out of production, producers were looking for ready-made characters for reality TV. Unscripted programs were cheaper to produce and less reliant on writers. No reality TV maker was more powerful than British émigré Burnett after Survivor debuted on CBS in 2000. With huge ratings, Survivor offered a way forward, with a hybrid of documentary and game show—a competition that put non-actors under stress and gave them time and space to crack. A key member of Burnett’s brain trust was his manager Conrad Riggs, who helped develop the series.
Competition reality shows of this era generally were about love quests or physical challenges, including the ratings bonanzas Joe Millionaire (women compete to win the heart of a supposedly rich guy, 2003), The Bachelor (women compete to win the heart of a handsome man, 2002), American Idol (singing, 2002), The Amazing Race (geographic obstacle courses, 2001), and The Biggest Loser (weight loss, 2004).
The widely believed story of how The Apprentice was born has Burnett on the set of Survivor in the Amazon in late 2002 contemplating ants as they swarmed over an animal carcass and then transposing this to the rat race of the urban jungle of New York, soon settling on Trump as the perfect host.1
Another California dreamer had a similar Trump reality show idea two years before Burnett. In early 2000, Mark Bethea, an Air Force veteran who was working for a private jet company and trying to break into the reality TV business, had an idea for a show called C.E.O. Bethea set about creating a killer PowerPoint presentation and finding someone with pull in the TV industry to pitch. He met with Conrad Riggs about it in 2001.
According to Riggs and Burnett, The Apprentice was developed along a completely separate track, and the idea of Trump as host came fresh from Burnett, who had never heard of or met Bethea. The question of who invented The Apprentice led to lawsuits in which the controversial lawyer Michael Avenatti was involved.
The point here is not to question Burnett’s Apprentice origin story, but to underscore that Trump’s consistent publishing of books, goosing of his press coverage, and talk show stops were a strategy that forged a memorable and easy-to-comprehend persona recognized by more than one creative mind.
Once that image was further honed by the star-making forces of weekly prime-time network television—with producers like Bill Pruitt, Darryl Silver, and Jay Bienstock, who formed plotlines, exaggerated character strengths and flaws, and extracted distillates of drama from hours of raw footage—Trump’s persona emerged exponentially more powerful. Television remade Trump into an avuncular and commanding character with a catchphrase that caught on in every corner of the country. The medium also taught Trump new skills that would translate to politics and the White House, such as staging (the escalator entrance), cliff-hangers (who will be fired next), and the potential kindness of outdoor lighting (Rose Garden videos).
Mark Bethea, aspiring TV producer, former executive at a private jet company: My friends joke with me that I am the reason Donald Trump is president.
All of the contestants will start their corporate lives as entry-level executives.
Promotions and demotions will be based upon performance in a variety of challenges.
Performance reviews and scoring sessions will be accomplished at meetings of the Board of Directors. (Slides 8 and 9, C.E.O. PowerPoint pitch)2
Mark Bethea: C.E.O. was the first reality show idea I had come up with. When I was thinking about somebody with a corporate background who was also a caricature of what we think about when we think about a big-time executive, Donald Trump is the name that came to mind immediately and very strongly. Love him or hate him, The Art of the Deal was pretty great. He had a bombastic personality, he played to the cameras, and you never knew what was going to come out of his mouth.
The President of the Corporation will serve as the Show’s host and the contestant’s main contact. The President will be selected for their past corporate experience as well as their on-screen presence and credibility. (Slide 24, C.E.O. PowerPoint pitch)
Mark Bethea: I had Trump in mind first, and then I had Lee Iacocca because as I was developing this, I went to a speech Iacocca gave.
Candidates for President: The Donald. Chairman Iacocca. (Slide 25, C.E.O. PowerPoint pitch)
The Office environment and living spaces will provide the perfect “showrooms” for companies to develop brand identification through product placement.
Major consumer and business retailers may also wish to negotiate “exclusive” deals for their own branded or inventoried products. (Slide 49, C.E.O. PowerPoint pitch)
Conrad Riggs, reality show producer: Mark Bethea came in and pitched. There were two ideas, an airplane racing show with fighter pilots, and the other was car racing. They were expensive and dangerous. Also too formulaic and uninsurable. I also found them boring. There is an old saying that it is exciting to learn how to fly an airplane and boring to watch someone learn how to fly an airplane. On the way out the door he says, I have this other one, it’s called C.E.O. and if you win you will become the CEO of a company. It wasn’t The Apprentice. It was one of dozens in this genre. I said no thanks.
Elizabeth Spiers, media reporter, Gawker and the New York Observer: I’m sure The Apprentice was probably—I don’t know what the origin story is, but I know Trump was rubbing shoulders with and sucking up to network executives for the entirety of his career, so it’s not entirely surprising that at some point the media would give him that kind of opportunity.
A. J. Benza, Newsday and New York Daily News gossip reporter: By putting Donald in the column on a weekly basis and talking about his women, his jobs, and how he’s turning around New York, that made him a figure for television to give him a show. Television comes running when somebody is dynamic and they’ve got people talking about them.
Jim Dowd,* NBC publicity representative for The Apprentice:3** Donald Trump’s reputation in the 2003 to 2004 time frame, right before The Apprentice launched … He was a larger-than-life figure who most people would say had stalled a little bit in terms of his awareness and progression. People would talk about the past, the wives and divorces, and talk about his amazing hotels and what have you. But there was really nothing new—there was no momentum in his career at that point. So the reputation would be, this is the modern-day P. T. Barnum who is looking for the next big thing.
Conrad Riggs: Burnett called me one day from the set of Survivor. We were always trying to figure out an idea of how to take the success of Survivor and do something else in the space of competition reality. He said he’d come up with an idea that would stand alone and apart. He hadn’t figured it all out. Later, I had dinner with Mark at Geoffrey’s in Malibu with his girlfriend and my wife. He wanted to call it Protégé. For me titles are very important. You want to provoke mystique and emotion. Survivor had been developed as Survive by Charlie Parsons. When I’d talk to people about it, they thought it sounded like a military thing or an athletic test of skill and strength. But it’s really a psychological and social experiment. “Survivor” had more entendres. He liked Protégé. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like Mentor or The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. But there was something about Apprentice. There were a lot of things you could draw from that word. The winner becomes The Apprentice. It’s the prize. The show isn’t about an apprentice. It’s The Apprentice. There were many hours of conversation about a two-word title.
At the dinner, Burnett also said he had a mogul in mind. A few months prior, in May 2002, Burnett had met Trump for the first time during a finale event for the fourth season of Survivor hosted by Rosie O’Donnell at Wollman Rink in New York City. Burnett had an earlier impression of him. “Back when I was selling T-shirts on Venice Beach,” Burnett wrote in his autobiography Jump In! Even if You Don’t Know How to Swim, “and getting my start in America, I had read and been inspired by his book The Art of the Deal.”
In a speech Mark Burnett gave in 2013 at the Entrepreneurial Leaders Conference, he told the story of meeting Trump and selling him on The Apprentice.4
Mark Burnett, TV producer: I get offstage. He says, “You’re a genius for this Survivor show. I’d love to work with you someday.”
Conrad Riggs: I had seen Trump at the Survivor finale. The guy was pretty imposing and kind of commands an audience. He had this reputation. But there are a lot of people with reputations. The question is, does it translate to hosting a TV show? We did look at other people because we didn’t know if Trump would say yes. I met with [former CEO of General Electric] Jack Welch. He seemed to have moved on with his life and didn’t want to make the time commitment. I talked with Richard Branson’s team, and we could have pursued that if Trump wasn’t an option. I really admire [Branson], and he would have been good, but he didn’t have the electric personality of Trump. I talked to people who worked with Warren Buffett, but it never got to a meeting with him. When the team started researching it, it turned out Mark’s instinct was correct. We thought, who is super charismatic, and you either love him or hate him but you’re going to watch him either way?—and that’s Donald Trump. He had written a lot of books. We looked at tapes of interviews he’d done, and decided he was a super-interesting guy.
Mark Burnett: I call the number I’ve got for Trump’s office thinking I’m going to get some receptionist. He answered the phone himself.… “Who’s this?” “It’s Mark Burnett.” He said, “Oh, Survivor genius. What’s up?” And I said, “Well, I’ve got this—You said about doing a show together a couple years ago.” He said, “Yeah, Survivor’s gotten bigger than ever. It’s the number-one show. You want to do a show with me?” I said, “Yeah, I do.” He said, “Well, I’m at the office now. Come over right now to Trump Tower and let’s talk about it.”
Conard Riggs: Mark went to Trump’s office and pitched him the idea. Trump said ABC had been asking him about doing a reality show with cameras following him around. Trump said, “This is better, because it’s not just about me. It’s about the American Dream, it’s about giving someone an opportunity.” So we had the host. We said now we can pitch this. We brought it first to ABC. They said, “We have one question: Who is the host?” They were surprised, because ABC had just tried to make a deal with him. They weren’t being super aggressive, and the terms weren’t A-plus. We were white-hot with Survivor. I thought, let’s hedge our bets. We brought it to CBS, because of Survivor, and third we went to NBC. NBC was hurting the most at the time. It was me, Mark, Jeff Zucker, and Marc Graboff [an NBC executive]. They loved it. We said this is the best way to do Survivor without Survivor. When we said we had Trump committed to host, it turned it from a good idea to a great idea. NBC said don’t leave the room without a signed deal.
None of Mark Bethea’s pitches went anywhere, and he kept working in private jets. A federal copyright suit brought by Bethea over who owned the show idea for The Apprentice was dismissed. A California state “idea theft” suit was settled out of court shortly before trial, with Burnett and Riggs paying Bethea an undisclosed amount.
Just as he watched political poll results, Trump kept an eye on TV ratings. He knew who the gold standard in reality TV was, and when opportunity came, he grabbed it. Big TV ratings gave someone power, and Trump wanted that power to further his ambitions. ABC had been pursuing Trump for what was at the time thought of as an Osbournes-style show (the vérité program starring the slurring and aging rock-and-roller Ozzy Osbourne and his family), a format that in later years would evolve into the heights of lowness in Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Trump, riding his intuition about what would work for his brand, had refused. The format risked doing to Trump what it had done to others—making stars look vacuous. Trump showed he understood better than anyone how to sell his persona to get what he wanted.