James Sun Almost Hired… But Ultimately Fired on The Apprentice
April 26th, 2007 by dd
So close yet so far… Ever since Yul Kwon won Survivor and Sanjaya teased us with his improbable American Idol run, we’ve seen a number of Asian Americans do well on high profile reality shows. And this past weekend was no different.
James Sun, 29-year-old Korean-American entrepreneur, bowed out of Donald Trump’s reality show The Apprentice after becoming the first Asian to go to the finals.
“It’s been a great experience for business, and there is a lot of opportunity that comes about even if you are not selected,” Sun said of his experience. “I still want to pitch Donald Trump to say, hey, even though I am not selected, I still want to do some business projects with him in Asia.”
Read more about James Sun’s “almost win” after the jump!
On the Apprentice, Sun was fighting off a stereotype.
“A lot of people said, ‘James, I thought you would be this quiet computer guy,’” he said. “I am from the Internet, I am the computer guy, sure. But I am not quiet.” And this impressed Ivanka, Donald Trump’s daughter, on the first show when Sun had to pitch sales.
“As for Donald Trump, I would like to think he sees substance in me,” Sun said, “I really want to pursue business. I am very passionate about it.”
Sun said he sold residential window cleaning services when he was 11, reading the Wall Street Journal at 14. When he was 18 and new in college, he started a technology investment fund.
One of his hopes in going on the show was to take the Trump enterprise to Asia, “to help Trump U.S.A. not only be Trump U.S.A. but really extend his brand to be Trump International,” Sun said.
Posted in Asian American, TV, Yul Kwon, Korean | 