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For the most part, the duties of a politician are to serve the people of the country they represent. And, of course, they make money while doing it. Not all of their net worth is earned on their government salary- it can also include salary pay from past careers, sound investments, or even the success of their spouse. So, curious about the net worth of some of these powerful politicians? See how much money they're really worth and how they made their fortunes.
Greg Gianforte: Estimated $136 Million
Greg Gianforte serves as Montana's sole US Representative for both its statewide and congressional district. While his net worth may seem impossible given his position, he is also an extremely successful businessman, engineer, and author. He and his wife founded RightNow Technologies, a software company which he later sold to McAfee and Oracle for around $1.5 billion.
He then became the second-richest member of Congress at 57-years-old. On top of his success both in business and politics, Gianforte has also contributed to various causes and charities.
Rick Scott: Estimated $232 Million
Serving as the Governor of Florida since 2011, Rick Scott has accumulated a wealth of around $232 million. It's mostly due to his investments, and not including those he has with his wife. Yet, if he and his wife were to pool their money together, it equates to well over $500 million.
Early in Scott's career, he was a successful partner at a law firm, which allowed him to later found Columbia Hospital Corporation. He had enough money to fund his own political campaign with $75 million and even has a house in Naples and a private jet. Scott doesn't even take a salary for his position as Governor.
Bernie Sanders: Estimated $2 Million
Another Democratic candidate for the 2020 election, Bernie Sanders had run previously in 2016 and was a favorite until he was beaten out by Hilary Clinton in the primaries. According to various sources including The Street, Sander's investments over the years, as well as his holdings, have brought his net worth up to around $2 million in 2018.
Yet, he was one of the lowest-earning Senators, making only $200,000 a year. Sanders also collected royalties from his book Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In, earning him around $1 million in 2016.
Paul Ryan: Estimated $6 Million
Paul Ryan is a politician for the Republican Party who served as the 54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from October 2015 to January 2019. He was also the 2012 vice presidential nominee of the Republican Party alongside Mitt Romney.
Yet, not all of his money is his, as his wife inherited a blind trust and also has interests in oil, gas, mineral, and timber leases. Although he comes from a humble background, he now enjoys a life of relative comfort with a home on Courthouse Hill among other assets.
John Kerry: Estimated $194 Million
John Kerry was the Democratic nominee in the 2004 presidential election although he lost to George W. Bush. However, from the years 2013 to 2017, he worked under the title of the Secretary of State, the 68th person to hold that position. Over the years, a large portion of Kerry's wealth has been acquired through his numerous book deals as well as his time spent both in the Senate and as Secretary of State.
Yet, what really took his net worth to the next level, was marrying Teresa Heinz. Being the Chair of Heinz Endowments and the Heinz Family Philanthropies, she is believed to have an estimated net worth between $750 million and $1.2 billion.
Ted Cruz: Estimated $4.6 Million
While Republican candidate Ted Cruz lost the 2016 presidential elections, it didn't take a terrible toll on him financially. While his annual salary is around $147,000, people wonder where his net worth of $4.6 million comes from.
Well, he has served numerous government positions throughout his career and has admitted that most of his money comes from assets such as stocks, retirement plans, and other investments. Yet, Cruz filed for a financial disclosure report in 2011 after securing a position in the Senate, making his true earnings hard to know for sure.
Rudy Giuliani: Estimated $45 Million
Rudy Giuliani served as the Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001 and now acts as one of the biggest attorneys for President Donald Trump. Yet, his astonishing net worth of an estimated $45 million isn't exactly shocking.
While he has worked in government in the past, he also founded the consulting cooperation Giuliani Partners and acquired and sold the investment banking business Giuliani Capital Advisors. In addition, he surely makes more than enough working as a personal lawyer for Donald Trump and has been said to charge $300,000 for every public speech that he gives.
Dianne Feinstein: Estimated $94 Million
Previously the mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988, Feinstein is now the oldest member of the United States Senate and longest-serving senator. She has acquired the majority of her extensive wealth of $94 million from many long-term investments, blind trusts, as well as her current husband's company Blum Capital, a private equity firm.
Yet, her current husband is her third after Jack Berman from the San Francisco DA's office and a neurosurgeon named Bertram Feinstein. It's assumed that she collected a fairly sizable life insurance policy after the death of her second husband.
Mike Pence: Estimated $2 Million
The current Vice President of the United States, it is estimated that Pence has a net worth of around $2 million. Supposedly, he received a $1 million pension after being the governor of Indiana. Pence currently makes $230,700 in his position as Vice President.
Given his position, he lives at the Number One Observatory Circle house, home of all VP's, which is paid by the American taxpayers. He also has a home in Washington DC in a private neighborhood that is 5-bedroom and 3.5 baths, which he supposedly pays $6,000 a month for.
Scott Pruitt: Estimated $1 Million
A republican hailing from Oklahoma, Scott Pruitt served under Donald Trump as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from February 2017 to July 2017. However, it wasn't before long that Pruitt was being investigated for several cases which forced him to resign his position.
Yet, he still lives a comfortable life regardless that his career is essentially over. It is assumed that Pruitt's net worth, which is estimated to be around $1 million, has mostly been acquired from his years in government and some well-placed investments.
Betsy DeVos: Estimated $1.3 Billion
Betsy DeVos is easily one of the wealthiest people in Trump's cabinet working as the United States Secretary of Education. Although she has had a successful career, a lot of her wealth comes from both her family and her husband's family.
She's married to Dick DeVos, the former CEO of the marketing company Amway, making her the daughter-in-law to her husband's billionaire father and founder of the company. Her father is also the founder of the Prince Corporation, and according to Forbes, her family is the 88th-richest in the country. In total, the family is expected to have a net worth of $5.1 billion.
Jimmy Carter: Estimated $7 Million
Although presidents make a reasonable salary during their time in the White House, it's not as much as you may think. Yet, it appears that former President Jimmy Carter saved the majority of his money and chose to live a humble life upon leaving the presidency.
While most former presidents cash out on book deals and public speeches, Carter only did what was necessary to live a relatively comfortable life. He moved back to his hometown, built a ranch, and does things here and there to maintain a net worth of around $7 million.
Nancy Pelosi: Estimated $200 Million
Although she has been serving as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since January 2019, Nancy Pelosi was first elected into Congress in 1987. While she has had an incredibly successful career in politics, it turns out that she and her husband's combined success is the reason for the extent of her wealth.
Her husband, Paul Pelosi, owns Financial Leasing Services, a highly successful San Francisco-based real estate and venture capital investment firm. On top of that, he has made numerous sound investments in Facebook, Apple, and even Disney. The couple also owns a winery together, clocking their combined net worth in funds and assets around $200 million.
Kamala Harris: Estimated $2 Million
A Democrat, Kamala Harris is an attorney, politician, and is the first person of South-Asian descent to serve on the Senate. On top of that, on January 21, 2019, she announced her campaign to run for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 election.
Working in politics for many years, Harris supposedly has maintained assets worth more than $2 million which includes $250,000 in savings. Furthermore, her lawyer husband, Doug Emhoff has more than $900,000 in investments. However, she has not released her salary or net worth to the public just yet.
Barack Obama: Estimated $40 Million
The 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama and his family made the majority of their money after leaving the White House. After releasing numerous books, and appearing as a public speaker countless times, Obama has been able to grow his net worth to around $40 million. That's 30 times more than when he entered the Oval Office in 2008.
As if Barack wasn't making his family enough money on his own, his wife Michelle is now a best-selling author and also works as a speaker almost as much as her husband. Together, they're making more than enough.
Donald Trump: Estimated $3.1 Billion
Currently holding the position of the 45th President of the United States, with little previous experience in the political arena, Donald Trump made most of his money in real estate. While he's had his financial ups and downs over his career, it is assumed that at one point, he had made nearly $4 billion in the real estate business.
He started his career with a share of his family's fortune and a position at his father's real estate firm. Once he became the president of the family business, he renamed it The Trump Organization. He also owned the Miss Universe and Miss USA beauty pageants, hosted The Apprentice, and authored several books, including a New York Times Best Seller.
Meg Whitman: Estimated $2 Billion
Meg Whitman is a Republican politician and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. She was also a senior member of Mitt Romney's presidential campaigns both in 2008 and 2012, although she supported Hillary Clinton in 2016. Although Whitman is a politician, she has made the majority of her money working for major companies.
Besides Hewitt Packard, she's had important roles in companies such as Disney, Dreamworks, and Hasbro, among others. At one point, she was even the CEO of eBay, taking the company to new heights. All these jobs have allowed her to greatly expand her bank account.
Elizabeth Warren: Estimated $5 Million
Officially in the running as a Democrat for the 2020 presidency, Elizabeth Warren has been serving as the senior United States Senator for Massachusetts since 2013. However, her life in politics isn't all that's helped her acquire a net worth of approximately $5 million. Over the years, she has made a series of solid investments that has helped her live comfortably.
On top of that, her husband has had a very fruitful career as well, with their combined net worth being upwards of $8 million. However, Warren wasn't born affluent and instead worked her way up starting as a professor after receiving a degree in bankruptcy law.
Cory Booker: Estimated $1 Million
Although other members of the Senate's salary has been on the decline, Booker's seems to be on the way up. While some believe his net worth of around $1 million is due to his investments, others suppose they are due to how much he charges for his public speeches.
Not only has he been an effective Senator, but he's also been involved in technology, and has proven himself in finance. All in all, nobody is exactly scratching their heads about where Cory Booker's money is coming from.
Al Gore: Estimated $200 Million
Before beginning his career in politics, Al Gore made the majority of his money relatively quickly due to his thinking outside of the box. He invested in Current TV, a television broadcasting company which was sold 14 years later for $500 million. Gore received $100 million from the deal.
During that time, he was involved in other business ventures before starring and directing his climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth. It's believed that it was after the release of his documentary that Gore made his true fortune.
J.B. Pritzker: Estimated $3.5 Billion
Jay Robert Pritzker is currently serving as the Governor of Illinois and holds the most private wealth of any governor in the history of the U.S. If it weren't for Michael Bloomberg, J.B. would also be the wealthiest politician in U.S. history.
Prizker has acquired his personal wealth from his family inheritance. They own the massively successful Hyatt hotel chain with Pritzker bring the co-founder of the Pritzker Group. On the business side of things, he served as the chairman of ChicagoNEXT in which he founded 1871, Chicago's digital startup center. He also co-founded Chicago Ventures and along with his brothers co-founded Pritzker Group Private Capital, which owns middle-market companies.
Sarah Palin: Estimated $12 Million
Considering that almost everyone knows who Sarah Palin is, it may seem strange that her net worth is only estimated to be around $12 million. At the moment, what's helped her make most of her money are her appearances and speeches, which she charges hundreds of thousands of dollars for.
Her television show also helped her out a lot, making $1 million per episode which ran for a total of eight episodes. Furthermore, she made a decent amount of money working as a Fox News correspondent, making it understandable where her $12 million came from.
Mitt Romney: Estimated $230 Million
Although best known for running against Obama in the 2012 presidential election, he's had no problem acquiring wealth over his career. Although he lost the presidential race, before he ran, he served as the Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007.
While politics isn't necessarily a poor man's job, that's not where he managed to make his fortune. He had an amazing business career where he served as the CEO of Bain & Company and later the President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Currently, he serves as the junior Senator for Utah.
John Delaney: Estimated $93 Million
A straightforward Democrat, John Delaney was the United States Representative for Maryland and was the first Democrat to announce he is running for president in 2020. While he's been deeply involved in politics, he has also founded two companies which are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
They are Health Care Financial Partners and CapitalSource, both of which have grown to be immensely successful and earned him the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2004.
Rick Santorum: Estimated $2 Million
Although $2 million is nothing to cry about, that's not nearly as enough as some other Senators in Congress make. According to Forbes, it is estimated that his net worth is somewhere in the ballpark of $2 million. Politically, he is considered to be one of the most successful Republicans in the recent times and was even nominated for the 2012 presidential election although he beat out by Mitt Romney.
After the race, he decided to continue his work as a consultant and private lawyer which is most of his money comes from. It's also assumed he has made some investments but none that are necessarily noteworthy.
Bill Clinton: Estimated $80 Million
Apparently, Bill Clinton left the presidency not with money, but millions of dollars of debts because of all the legal fees for his scandal involving Monica Lewinsky. Yet, with some smart thinking, Bill and his wife Hillary managed to crawl out of their debt and make a decent amount of money for themselves.
They were able to do this from years of paid speeches, very lucrative book deals, and appearances. Supposedly after just his first year out of the White House and made $13.7 million. Now, with the combined net worth of Bill and his uber-successful wife Hillary is estimated to be $80 million.
Michael Flynn: Estimated $1 Million
Michael Flynn worked as Donald Trump's National Advisor until her admitted to the felony that he had been in contact with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential campaign.
While he doesn't have all that much money in the bank, he's going to need it in order to pay all of the legal fees that he's going to have to pay for his crimes. Just in case his $1 million wasn't enough, he even went so far as to sell his house to help with additional fees.
Melania Trump: Estimated $11 Million
Although Melania might be the First Lady and married to one of the most powerful and successful people in the world, that doesn't mean she doesn't have her own wealth. While she gets whatever she wants more than likely, she was making money for herself well before she became Trump's wife.
During her years as a model and now a jewelry designer and spokesperson, she has made herself a comfortable $11 million even though she may not necessarily need it.
Hillary Clinton: Estimated $45 Million
Although Hillary and her husband have a combined net worth of around $80 million, by herself, Hillary has acquired around $45 million. While she didn't win the presidency, she surely has an incredibly successful when it comes to politics as well as making money.
Both before and after her presidential campaign, she has had numerous book deals and been delivering particularly lucrative speeches. However, what really made her a lot of money are the speeches she gave and books she wrote after she lost.
Darrell Issa: Estimated $254 Million
Darrell Issa has an absolutely staggering net worth that beats out just about every other person in Congress by a decent amount. His supposed $254.7 million is even a minimum estimate. Most of his money comes from his successful business career in which he founded CEO of Directed Electronic.
Today, Directed Electronics is one of the largest makers of automobile security and convenience products in the United States. So, he continuously makes money from that as well as all of the other investments that he has made over the years.
Beto O'Rourke: Estimated $9 Million
With an estimated net worth of $9 million, Beto O'Rourke lives comfortably with his family and is a famous member of Congress. On top of being a successful politician, a few years after graduating from college, he co-founded the Internet services and software company Stanton Street Technology.
Although the company is currently run by his wife, it's one of the biggest ways they make their money. Furthermore, O'Rourke is also a member of the band Ross which was formed while he was attending Columbia University.
Mitch McConnel: Estimated $27 Million
Curently, Mitch McConnel serves as Kentucky's senior United States Senator as well as the Senate Majority Leader and is the longest-serving Republican U.S. Senate leader in history. While he started out as a mild Republican early in his career, over the years, he slowly began to lean more and more right.
He's had a long career in politics but made even more money when in 1997 he founded the James Madison Center for Free Speech, a D.C. - Based legal defense organization. He also inherited the majority of his money from his father-in-law who in 2008 gifted he and his wife up to $25 million after the death of his wife.
Henry Kissinger: Estimated $20 Million
At 95 years old, Henry Kissinger has had an eventful political career serving as both the United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, even winning the Nobel Prize for peace.
He's made a lot of his money from a lot of his side projects such as the over dozen books that he's written as well as forming the geopolitical firm called Kissinger & Associates. Today, he lives a rather quiet life in the town of South Kent in Connecticut with a population of only 3,000 people.
Jim Justice: Estimated $1.9 Million
Jim Justice is not only the Governor of West Virginia, but he also happens to be the richest man in the entire state. His vast amount of wealth has stemmed from his work in both the agricultural and mining business which he has created an empire out of.
Although he joined the family business after graduating from college, in total, he has owned or acted as the CEO for over 50 companies which he has led well, for the most part, saving a few from bankruptcy from time to time. Starting off Republican and becoming a Democrat he has always been known for being generous, donating over $1 million in toys to children every Christmas among other things.
Steve King: Estimated $253 Million
Although he used to be a businessman, now, he is serving as a US Representative from Iowa and gas been since 2003. Five years after graduating from Northwest Missouri State University, he founded the earthmoving company King Construction which proved to be an incredibly successful venture.
Then, in the 1980s, he founded Kiron Business Association which also helped him to make his fortune. Politically, he has come under fire for speaking against several races and even has been linked with white nationalism.
Chris Christie: $4 Million
Combined with his wife, Chris Christie has acquired a net worth of $4 million. They both have worked as lawyers and climbed the ladder to be as successful as they are today. Eventually, Christie decided to try his hand at politics and later became the Governor of New Jersey, something that was rare considering that New Jersey is typically a blue state.
In an essence, the majority of his wealth comes from the combination of both his work as an attorney as well as his accomplishments as a politician.
Howard Schultz: Estimated $3.1 Billion
After recently announcing that he would be running as an Independent in the 2020 presidential elections, Howard Schultz has officially thrown himself into the world of politics. However, his impressive net worth of $3.1 billion is one of the less surprising out of most politicians.
This is so, considering that he is the former CEO and former Executive Chairman of Starbucks. Starting off by humble means, he worked his way up from a salesman to become the Executive Chairman of one of the biggest businesses in the world. Now, he's running for President of the United States.
Vern Buchanan: Estimated $73.9 Million
A member of the House of Representatives, according to Newsweek, he has an estimated net worth of $73.9 million, making him one of the wealthiest members of Congress. While he seems to be holding his own as a politician, what he really makes his money off of are his various business ventures, especially those dealing with cars.
He has an automotive empire of numerous dealerships in Florida as well has ownership interests in at least fifty other businesses including charter-jet businesses and reinsurance companies.
Bill Haslam: Estimated $1.8 Billion
Acting as the Governor of Tennessee, according to Forbes, Bill Haslam has an incredible net worth of $1.8 billion. However, he didn't earn this off of a governors salary. It turns out to be family money with his father being being the founder of Pilot Corp.
Yet, Haslam himself did join the family business when starting his career and was successful enough to grow to become the richest governor in the United States. His immense wealth was also clearly helpful in his political ventures, as he didn't need to raise any money for his campaigns.
Wilbur Ross: Estimated $2.5 Billion
Wilbur Ross is a well-known investor, the current United States Secretary of Commerce, billionaire and business tycoon. Although he clearly has billions of dollars, it's not exactly clear where all of his money comes from and it appears he wants to keep it that way.
Known as the King of Bankruptcy, it's assumed that he has made the majority of his fortune buying up bankrupt companies, only to resell them for a nice profit. From there, it can be assumed that he has countless other business ventures as well as numerous large investments.