Knight Specialty Insurance has agreed to provide cash and bonds as collateral for Donald Trump’s $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case. Trump and his co-defendants are accused of misrepresenting the value of his properties. Forbes magazine said Don Hankey, the primary owner of Knight, built an estimated $7.4 billion fortune through car dealerships and providing subprime auto loans. 

According to the company’s website, Knight has its origins in a business called KnightBrook, which was established in 1934. Knight Insurance Company Ltd. was formed in 1993 and Knight Management Insurance Services LLC was established in 1999.

Knight Specialty was formed in 2003, Knight Insurance Group Segregated Portfolio Company followed in 2019 and Knight Management company was established in 2020.

Hankey told The Associated Press he has never spoken with Trump. "This is what we do at Knight Insurance, and we're happy to do this for anyone who needs a bond," Hankey said. The bond is a placeholder that will guarantee payment if the judgment against Trump is upheld on appeal. 

The Los Angeles Business Journal reported last year that the 80-year-old Hankey got started in the auto industry when his father bought a stake in a Ford dealership in Los Angeles in 1958. As a teen, Hankey washed cars during the summer and later became a salesman. While Hankey was studying finance at the University of Southern California, his father died and his family lost its stake in the car dealership. But a few years after Hankey's graduation, his family repurchased the dealership with a $250,000 loan.

Bloomberg reported that Axos Bank of San Diego, in which Hankey is one of the biggest non-institutional investors, provided $100 million in funding to refinance Trump Tower in 2022 when the Trump Organization's real estate valuations were under scrutiny.