The ruling freed Trump and his family from an enormous financial burden that once threatened to wipe out all his cash and force a fire sale of some of his most prized businesses. Since he won back the presidency, his net worth has increased by billions of dollars thanks to his cryptocurrency ventures.

In a triumph for Donald Trump, a New York state appeals court on Thursday threw out a half-billion-dollar penalty while preserving a fraud case against him, enabling the U.S. president to rebound from one of his biggest legal defeats.