She is a lawyer who has worked full-time in government. He is a billionaire businessman who, with the exception of four years as president, has spent his entire career in his family’s real estate firm.
She disclosed her tax returns and other details about her personal finances, which caused little controversy. Contrary to tradition, he has never released his tax returns and often takes legal action against those who report that his net worth is less than he claims.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are as different in their finances and how they publicly disclose them as they are in their policies. If they have one thing in common in their financial lives, it is the role their families play in increasing their wealth.
Although Harris is a lawyer, her decades of work—as a public defender, state attorney general, federal senator, and then vice president—have produced far less wealth than Trump or comparatively prominent lawyers, for that matter. Her financial capabilities skyrocketed after 2014, when she married Doug Emhoff, a lawyer in private practice, and his much larger income and assets became part of the marriage.
In the 1970s, after Trump took over the family firm, he received money from his father. Trump has variously stated that the “small loan” amount is $1 million or $9 million; That New York Times estimates it at more than $400 million at current prices.
Here’s how the two candidates compare in net worth and taxable income, plus a quick rundown of their running mates. The data comes from data released by the US Federal Election Commission, where presidential candidates are required to file public financial disclosure reports, as well as the news and Harris’ voluntary release of her tax returns.
Kamala Harris
Net Worth
Harris’s net worth is currently estimated by Forbes at $8 million. Harris and her husband’s assets reportedly include a multimillion-dollar home in Los Angeles, and Harris’ latest disclosure includes a mortgage of between $1 million and $5 million. The couple also has more than $2 million in investments, including diversified index funds, some of which are partially hidden from the public through a trust, according to Barron’s.
Income and taxes
Harris’ tax returns show a jump in annual income from several hundred thousand dollars when she filed as an individual to between $1 million and $3.5 million on her joint returns with Emhoff.
The couple’s earnings have declined since 2021, according to ABC News, in part because Emhoff left private law practice to teach law at Georgetown University. The couple’s latest tax return for 2023 shows the couple’s total gross income is $450,299, including about $50,000 in taxable interest from Wells Fargo bank accounts.
She will receive a salary of $284,600 in 2024 for her position as vice president.
Interesting financial fact
Harris’ most recent tax return reported a $1,655 gift of concert tickets from Beyoncé, whose song “Freedom” serves as the vice president’s usual podium music at her rallies.
Her partner’s numbers
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s finances are as modest and unpretentious as his political image. He and his wife Gwen own no property and have a net worth of no more than $330,000. The size of his federal pension could add roughly $800,000 to the Walzes’ net worth, according to an analysis by Wall Street Journal.
For his duties as governor, Walz receives a gross annual salary of $210,287.
Donald Trump
Net Worth
Determining how much Trump is actually worth is difficult due to the volatile value of his assets and his accumulation of unpaid legal fines.
One of the latest estimates of Trump’s net worth, based on a Bloomberg analysis from March 2024, reached an all-time high of $6.5 billion. The increase is largely due to the value of Trump’s controlling stake in Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the entity that owns his social media site Truth Social. Trump’s 115 million shares of TMTG were worth nearly $4 billion at the company’s stock price in mid-October.
According to the documents, Trump also owns up to $5 million worth of Ethereum cryptocurrency.
Income and taxes
In his latest financial report, released in August by the Federal Election Commission, Trump reported more than $57 million in income from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, as well as more than $12 million in income from licensing and royalty transactions. on books, sneakers and trading cards.
His earnings are offset by at least $600 million in debts from judgments against Trump, including a civil fraud judgment by the New York state attorney general and rulings in two successful libel suits brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.
Since Trump has not released his tax returns, his tax information comes from two main third-party sources. New York Times in 2020, it was revealed that he had paid no federal income taxes at all for 11 of the 18 years during which Time reviewed and paid only $750 in 2017. The House Budget Committee, which released seven years of Trump’s tax returns in 2022, noted, among other things, concerns about Trump’s unjustified tax deductions and credits.
Fun financial fact
As a one-time member of the Screen Actors Guild, which he joined for his hit show. StudentTrump receives an annual pension of $90,776 from the union, according to his August financial statements.
His partner’s numbers
In his latest financial report for 2022, Trump’s vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, reported assets of between $4 million and $11 million. Those assets include a Schwab brokerage account worth about $7.5 million, with investments primarily in passively managed stock and bond exchange-traded funds, according to CNN.
Vance’s 2022 earnings included roughly $1 million from his salary in the U.S. Senate ($174,000) and his venture capital firm, as well as book royalties and investment income, according to ABC.
On taxes, Vance appears to be following Trump’s lead and has not yet released any tax returns.
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