How much do you think Donald Trump is worth? That’s basically the question author Timothy O’Brien answered in his obnoxiously titled book, TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald. But even though the title sounds like O’Brien might have written about how great Trump is, the author allegedly undervalued the real estate magnate’s worth. O’Brien wrote that unnamed sources estimated Trump’s worth to fall somewhere between $150 million and $250 million. This value was so low that Trump sued O’Brien for libel. On Wednesday, Trump lost, and the New Jersey appeals court maintained its dignity.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Trump stated in the suit that his worth has been “proven conclusively” to be over $7 billion. Whether the actual valuation is closer to O’Brien’s, Trump’s, or somewhere in between, the fact remains that there was nothing libelous about what O’Brien said. Libel is essentially a harmful statement that is made in published form. In order to sue someone successfully for it, a celebrity must show that the statement was false, caused harm, had not been adequately researched, and was made with the intent to harm or “with malice.” The court found no malice behind O’Brien’s words, and therefore found in his favor.

Even if there had been malice behind O’Brien’s statement, how much harm would it really cause someone like Donald Trump? While Trump would certainly be protective of his famous ego and desire to have everything in the world, ever, at worst he would be referred to as a multimillionaire in a book that only some people are going to read. That was apparently enough for Trump to go after O’Brien, but in the end he comes out of this lawsuit worse off for two reasons. First, Trump sounded a bit strange when he said at trial that his own personal valuation of his worth changes with his feelings at the time. Not the best thing to say in a case where you’re the one upset about precision in reporting your worth. Second, Trump has now lost the appeal to a case that started in 2009. That means he would have racked up a decent legal bill for his lawyers. That’s going to cut into that $7 billion, or $250 million, or $150 million, or whatever it is.