America’s economy is booming, with the stock market up 15% over the last six months and 24% in the last year. Yet much of the country doesn’t feel any richer, thanks to a host of underlying complications, including stagnating home values, flat wages, high interest rates and stubborn inflation. The man many people blame for those issues, rightly or wrongly, is affected by them too. Joe Biden’s net worth has stalled out at an estimated $10 million. Forbes staff writer Zach Everson joins "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss.
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2024/06/22/heres-how-much-joe-biden-is-worth/
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Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2024/06/22/heres-how-much-joe-biden-is-worth/
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hi, everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis with Forbes breaking news. Joining me now is my Forbes
00:07colleague, staff writer Zach Everson. Zach, thanks for joining me once again.
00:12Thanks for having me on once again, Brittany.
00:14Of course, Forbes is estimating the net worth of President Joe Biden. You have the number.
00:20How much is the commander in chief worth?
00:23It is about $10 million, which is the same as what we valued him at earlier this year
00:29and also last year.
00:31So $10 million making Joe Biden a multimillionaire. I mean, this is at odds with his middle class
00:38Joe persona. Can you talk about that a little bit for us?
00:42Yeah, obviously, $10 million. It's a solid amount. It's you know, I would I would like
00:50very much like to have $10 million right now. But remember, this isn't like it's all liquid
00:54and cash right there. It's it's he's got a lot of money that he made from his government
00:58pension. He's been working in government for decades, and that's just compounded.
01:02And then he's made a few good real estate purchases in terms of buying a house in Wilmington,
01:08Delaware and also his vacation home in Rehoboth, which is really what's what's led to one of
01:13the greatest increases. You know, he also did pretty well the four years he was out
01:17of office where he was making some money with speeches and books.
01:21By the numbers, the economy is doing a lot better than it has been the past couple of
01:25years. But as we know, economic concerns continue to be top of mind for voters, especially
01:30as we head into the November presidential election. And as you point out in your piece,
01:35many Americans are concerned about inflation, high interest rates, flat wages and stagnating
01:40home values. And many of them pin the blame on President Joe Biden. But as it turns out,
01:47he's suffering from the same issues. Can you talk about that?
01:50Yeah, possibly even more so, at least in terms of salary. The president has been paid
01:5640, excuse me, four hundred thousand dollars a year since George W. Bush entered the White
02:01House in 2001. So there has been no raise for the occupant of the White House. So, I
02:06mean, that is that is flat. They did not put any sort of adjustment for inflation when
02:11Congress passed the bill that raised the salary. So, you know, as a result, Biden's getting
02:15paid four hundred thousand dollars. The equivalent, George, the four hundred thousand dollars
02:19George W. Bush was getting back in 2001 is worth about seven hundred and seventeen thousand
02:25dollars in today's purchasing power. So, you know, obviously, presidents back 20 years
02:29ago when they passed this law were able to do more with the salary than what what Biden
02:33can do with his right now. Yeah, definitely. Four hundred thousand dollars in the early
02:372000s got you a lot farther than it does today. But as you noted, he has a lot of his money
02:43tied up in real estate, two thirds of his fortune, according to your report. And you
02:48are saying that he has his financial well-being has been tied up in real estate for a while.
02:53So can you talk about his portfolio for us? Yeah, so right now he has the two houses,
02:58one in Wilmington, one in Delaware, and they are flat in terms of valuation from last year.
03:03We haven't seen much appreciation there, but he at a young age got into real estate. You
03:08know, once he started making money after coming out of law school, he kept buying houses.
03:13He ended up buying three houses at one point that he was living in a fourth property that
03:18he was getting not having to pay rent for in exchange for managing a swimming pool.
03:23So he had those three properties. He ended up selling them to buy one property that he
03:28was going to move the whole family into. And then they fell in love with a different property
03:31and bought that one. And then shortly after he was elected to the Senate, they bought
03:37a house in Chevy Chase, Maryland as well. So he was back to having two homes there.
03:42Another pattern he has found himself in is refinancing and tapping into those properties
03:47before when he's needed cash. So can you talk about those times for us?
03:52Yeah. So, you know, originally those homes were all making money for him is via renting
03:58them out. Most recently in, excuse me, Rehoboth, he took out a loan. This is another area where
04:05he's getting hit by inflation. It had a variable interest rate plus one point nine nine percent.
04:09So a couple of years ago, I think the amount that he had borrowed from it was somewhere
04:13between fifteen thousand and fifty thousand. Most recently, he in his latest disclosure
04:19disclosed that he has taken out borrowed about one hundred thousand to two hundred and fifty
04:23thousand off against it. So, you know, it's one way to make up for your salary staying
04:27flat is to just keep tapping into the equity you have in your house.
04:32Is it normal to repeatedly refinance over and over again?
04:38You know, that's a good question. I'm not an expert in that, but I certainly know, you
04:42know, as a former homeowner that, you know, what it's it can certainly be beneficial depending
04:47on how interest rates change. And a lot of Americans do tap into their house for equity.
04:54You noted before that in 2016, after he left office as vice president, he made a good chunk
05:00of change. How did he do this?
05:03Books, speeches, the usual ways that former politicians make some money after after leaving
05:10the public sector. So he did pretty well during that four years earlier.
05:15When we looked at his wealth several years ago, we realized he probably could have made
05:18more and done better with his investments if he had put them in other places.
05:23So while he is worth ten million dollars, that number could probably have been higher if
05:27he had made some different choices.
05:29So looking at the past, when he first left office, let's say he doesn't win reelection
05:35and he leaves office again in 2025, would he make more money out of office opposed to
05:40that 400000 dollar salary?
05:43He certainly would have the possibility of making more money than that 400000 dollar
05:47salary. I mean, it's also likely, you know, if he were to lose, he may just want to retire
05:51because he is certainly of that age.
05:55Aside from his real estate and his salary, what are the other assets that make up his
05:59fortune? The big ones are his pensions, and then he has an annuity that holds I think
06:05it's about 10 different mutual funds in it as well.
06:08And he's got a few bank accounts with some cash.
06:11So ten million dollars, nothing to sneeze at for sure.
06:15But how does this stack up to his predecessor and biggest competitor now, Donald
06:20Trump's worth? It is pennies compared to what Donald Trump has.
06:26I don't know the exact number right now because that truth that Trump media stock has
06:30been bouncing all over the place of late.
06:32But, you know, Trump is worth five, six, seven billion dollars typically when I when I
06:37look at it. So, you know, this this 10 million dollars is certainly nice.
06:41But for Trump to compare it, it's about the value of, I think, one home that he has in
06:46the Virgin Islands that he's been trying to get rid of.
06:48So it's a rounding error for Trump.
06:50Well, Zach Everson, per usual, thanks for your reporting.
06:54Thanks for having me on again.