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What’s in the Candidates’ Wallets?

by Flexo on December 10, 2007

in Economy

Money Magazine has an eye-opening look inside the personal financial reports of the leading presidential candidates, including asset allocations and income sources. The article points out anything out of the ordinary with the candidates’ holdings and even offers money management suggestions from a financial adviser.

Hillary Clinton. Net worth: $34.9 million. 2006 income: $12.1 million. More than 85% of her asset allocation is in cash and bonds.

John Edwards. Net worth: $54.7 million. 2006 income: $3.7 million. As a former consultant for Fortress Investment Group, 43% of his assets are in hedge fund investments.

Rudolph Giuliani. Net worth: $52.2 million. 2006 income: $17 million. In 2006, Giuliani averaged one speech every three days for a total of $11.4 million of his $17 million income.

John McCain. Net worth: $40.4 million. 2006 income: $3.9 million. John McCain has donated all of his income from writing — and he has written several books — to charity. Everything except $50,000 is in his wife’s name or in a trust for his children.

Barack Obama. Net worth: $1.3 million. 2006 income: $991,000. $350,000 is split between a socially responsible index mutual fund and a managed fund with a 60/40 mix of bonds and equities.

Mitt Romney. Net worth: $202 million. 2006 income: $37.6 million. His high income is due to timely sales of stocks that might be deemed “politically sensitive,” like those of European oil companies that do business with Iran.

Fred Thompson. Net worth: $8.1 million. 2006 income: $9.4 million. Fred’s acting career has seen him playing POTUS as well as other political roles, including himself. He has $3.2 million in cash right now. If he doesn’t successfully run for president, that cash will help him pay for his retirement.

Millionaires-in-Chief [Money Magazine]
Image credit: marcn

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Tagged as: barack obama, fred thompson, hillary clinton, john edwards, john mccain, mitt romney, Politics, rudolph giuliani



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Flexo, the owner and creator of Consumerism Commentary, has been blogging and writing for the internet since 1995 and has been building online communities since 1991. Find out more about him and follow him on Twitter.

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  • Wow! That Romney dude is loaded! And he is probably the least well known of those listed (definitely the least known before the recent campaigns began).
  • Fred Thompson doesn't strike me as being particularly good with his money. $9.4 million income last year, but "just" $8.1 million net worth. I'm sure he's been making some pretty good coin for a number of years now (given his Hollywood background). So why such a (relatively) low net worth?
  • The CNN Money article says he didn't start making good money until he "went Hollywood" in 2003. I don't think he's the type of actor to command $100,000 per episode, so I don't know if he'll ever get rich from television... unless he does, in fact, get elected. However, you would think there would be royalties for "Law and Order" syndication. It seems like that show is always on.
  • I have to say McCain seems to be the most noble of the group, at least when it comes to his money. His books sell very well and to give all that to charity says a lot about the man.
  • Hillary has 85% cash/bonds? Apparently she doesn't know much about asset allocation. I guess when you have that much, it doesn't matter if it grows or not.
  • I imagine Hillary is trying to stay out of things that could be considered politically sensitive. For example, I bet she wants to stay away from anything that even smells like real estate. And it doesn't say what type of bonds she's in, they might be higher risk corporate ones which would yield better returns.

    Obama's pretty smart keeping some of his stuff in socially responsible funds. That'll look good to the voters, so it'll probably be worth getting a somewhat smaller return.

    McCain giving his book proceeds to charity does score well, depending on which charities he chose, though having all his money in his wife and children's names seems a bit off.

    From an outsiders perspective, I have to say this campaign should be fascinating to watch.
  • I'm not a Romney supporter, but his blurb seems a little biased.
  • Great article. Interesting to see the different assets and allocations, which are across the board for both parties.
    Obama is the one I would most like my personal economic profile to mirror, while McCain's is good as well.

    Thomas, Romney's blurb isn't biased, it is just stating what he made over $37 million from. Along those lines, Edward's would be considered "biased" too. A more biased account would be "Romney made over $37 MILLION last year through a slimy, politically-motivated sale of controversial Iran-related stocks. This directly contradicts his stance of Iran as being evil and a destabilizing force, showing that he values his own personal gain more than ethics, honesty, and morality."
  • oxymoron
    what is not said is if this money is shared between the spouses. How much does Bill have laying around. Edward's wife is loaded. I agree with the royalties of Law and Order, Fred should have a constant stream of income. Funny Mit would put his dog on top of his car whilst he traveled rather than buying a doggie car carrier.
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