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From rich kid to first daughter: The fabulous life of Ivanka Trump

Wednesday 08 March 2017 12:05 EST
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Ivanka Trump
Ivanka Trump (Getty)

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Ivanka Trump has lived her life in the public eye.

Born to then real-estate mogul Donald Trump and model Ivana Trump, his first wife, Ivanka Trump is the now president's oldest (and favorite) daughter.

She has been a business executive, runway model, socialite, doting mother, and now key adviser in her father's White House.

Here's how she did it:

Angus Kennett and Ivanka Trump pictured during Australian Fashion Week 1999 in Sydney, Australia
Angus Kennett and Ivanka Trump pictured during Australian Fashion Week 1999 in Sydney, Australia (Patrick Riviere/Getty Images)

Ivanka Trump was born in Manhattan on October 30, 1981.

She is the middle child of Donald's first wife, Ivana, who was born in Czechoslovakia.

Her mother and father divorced in 1992 after a very public breakup when he cheated with Marla Maples, who would become his second wife. Ivanka was 11 years old.

Ivanka has said while she loves Marla and her half-sister Tiffany, she could never really forgive her for breaking up her parents' marriage. Tabloid journalists accosted her, shouting "Is it true that Marla said that your father was the best sex she'd ever had?"

Donald Trump watches Venus and Serena Williams compete during the women's final match of the US Open with his girlfriend Melania Knauss, his ex-wife Ivana Trump and Ivanka in 2001.
Donald Trump watches Venus and Serena Williams compete during the women's final match of the US Open with his girlfriend Melania Knauss, his ex-wife Ivana Trump and Ivanka in 2001. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

She attended the exclusive all-girls Chapin School in Manhattan — of which Jackie Kennedy is an alumna — and then shipped off to boarding school at Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut — where John F. Kennedy went.

Taking after her mother, Ivanka started modeling as a teen.

Ivanka on the cover of "Seventeen" in May 1997, when she was 15.
Ivanka on the cover of "Seventeen" in May 1997, when she was 15. (Seventeen Magazine/Hearst Corporation)

She studied at Georgetown and the University of Pennsylvania (her father's alma mater), where she graduated summa cum laude in 2004 with a degree in economics.

Ivanka met Jared Kushner, from a fellow real-estate mogul family who also grew up in the public eye, in 2005. The pair began dating on and off shortly after that.

An inch shy of 6 feet, she's walked the runways for Versace. Ivanka told Harper's Bazaar in 2007 that 60-year-old bankers "have nothing on a group of catty 16-year-old female models without parental supervision."

Ivanka, Donald Trump and Melania Knauss attend a benefit gala in 2004 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City.
Ivanka, Donald Trump and Melania Knauss attend a benefit gala in 2004 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City.

But her true passion has always been the family business. She tagged along to board meetings and negotiations her whole life, but started officially working for her father in 2005 after graduating college.

Ivanka appeared on her father's hit show, "The Apprentice," joining the cast as a boardroom judge from its sixth season to its final episode with the Trumps at the helm in 2015.

Ivanka inherited her father's dealmaking skills. She was the lead negotiator on the Trump National Doral Miami, a $1 billion property that she scooped up for $150 million.

In 2009, she published, "The Trump Card," an inspirational how-to get ahead in business book based on her experiences. It was a New York Times bestseller. Her second book, "Women Who Work," is coming out May 2, 2017.

Ivanka married Kushner on October 25, 2009. She converted to Orthodox Judaism for him, and the couple keep kosher and observe the Sabbath, shutting off their electronics to spend time with family.

In addition to helping run the Trump Organization, Ivanka launched a jewelry collection in 2007, and created her own fashion and lifestyle brand, The Ivanka Trump Collection, shortly thereafter.

Ivanka is an early riser, usually beginning work by 6:30 a.m. People describe her as friendly, polished, eloquent, capable, and even a bit intimidating. She admits she has "a big ego," like her father.

Ivanka and Jared's wedding
Ivanka and Jared's wedding (Brian Marcus/Fred Marcus Photography via Getty Images)

An avid Manhattan socialite, she's lent her name recognition to various charitable causes, including the New York City Police Foundation and Cookies for Kids' Cancer, shown here.

Her and her brothers Eric and Donald Jr. — all Trump's kids from his first wife — held the title of executive vice presidents of development and acquisition at the Trump Organization, with offices side-by-side-by-side in Trump Tower.

She has always been extremely close with her father. When Ivanka was little, he used to brag to high-powered executives about how smart she was. And he never ignores her phone calls.

Receiving numerous accolades for her business acumen over the years, the World Economic Forum named Ivanka a Young Global Leader, and she was 33rd on Fortune magazine's '40 Under 40' list in 2014.

On March 27, 2016, Ivanka and Jared welcomed baby Theo, their third child after Arabella and Joseph. "The most important job any woman can have is being a mother, and it shouldn't mean taking a pay cut," she controversially proclaimed in a political ad for her father.

After her father clinched the party's presidential nomination, Ivanka delivered a keynote address at the Republican National Convention, highlighting her father's record of supporting women and minorities within his company.

She was her father's constant foil on the campaign trail. After a lewd 2005 tape of Trump making crude sexual remarks about women, Ivanka said his comments were "clearly inappropriate and offensive," and that she was glad he apologized for them.

Ivanka at Donald Trump's inauguration.
Ivanka at Donald Trump's inauguration. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Her support for her father has never wavered. "Thank you, America, for the trust that you placed in my father," Ivanka said on election night after he won. "He will never let you down!"

And she is clearly her father's favorite child. "Daddy’s little girl!" he's called her.

After the election, Ivanka and Jared moved to DC, and both relinquished control of their many business ventures. She stepped down from her fashion line and the Trump Organization, leaving the company in her brothers' hands.

But her father's many critics have jeopardized Ivanka's brands. Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Gilt, and Burlington all dropped her fashion line following customer protests and weak sales.

One of her father's closest confidantes, Ivanka has sat in on many of his meetings with business and world leaders — just like she did as a kid.

The memes imply that a woman cannot look or smile at a man without having romantic intentions
The memes imply that a woman cannot look or smile at a man without having romantic intentions (Reuters)

Ivanka's trusted voice is likely to shape her father's presidency in the years to come. She's lived her whole life in the spotlight — why stop now?

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Read the original article on Business Insider UK. © 2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.

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