How Much Is Obama Worth?

Resolute action is expected from the new American president Barack Obama in order to handle the current recession. But how does the man handle his own money?

American politicians are required every year to publish their income, real estate assets, investments, and debts, so this information is public. From this, we can get a good idea about how Barack Obama manages his money.

Income

The figures for 2008 are not released until May, but we do know exactly what Obama made in 2007: 4,094,690 dollars (about 3.17 million euros). The majority of that income he received from the advances from his books. The publisher, Random House, made a deposit of about 3 million dollars to Obama’s account for the bestsellers “Dreams from My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream.” He has already received 200,000 dollars from the same company for a new children’s book that he wants to write together with his wife and their two daughters.

Though Barack Obama makes good money as a lawyer, he is not the highest-earning American politician. That title goes to Hillary Clinton, who got about 10 million dollars in 2007. A small footnote in the story: Hillary earned that money together with her husband, Bill. A large part of that income comes from him, from, among other things, speeches he gives for which he charges 425,000 dollars on average.

Debts

Americans typically build up a lot of debt because they like to buy on credit, often without thinking about what they’re spending. It is reassuring to see that Obama is a good example in that respect: in 2007 he had no personal debts higher then 10,000 dollars. Amounts that are lower than that amount do not have to be published. So the Obamas did not go along with the housing bubble.

The comparison with Hillary Clinton here is striking. In 2007 she had debts on her credit card in the category “more than 15,000 but less then 50,000 dollars.” Even more shocking is John McCain’s situation. Together with his wife Cindy, he built up a debt of “3 to 5 million dollars,” including a debt on Cindy McCain’s credit card in the amount of 225,000 dollars. We are told in this report that it is an American Express card, and that the McCains pay up to 25.99 percent interest on it.

For American politicians it is optional to publish the amount of their mortgage. According the New York Times, Obama bought a house near Chicago in 2005 for the significant sum of 1.65 million dollars. He took a mortgage on the house in the amount of 1.32 million, according to the Times.

Investments

Obama has an investment portfolio of several millions, divided over a number of funds. In the last few months some of them have decreased in value substantially, such as the FTSE Social Funds that lost 42 percent of their value in one year. Obama invested 150,000 in those. In addition, the Goldman Sachs Large Cap Value Fund has lost already 37 percent. As a small comfort, the “less then 15,000 dollars” that he invested in the PIMCO Total Return Fund returned a 4% profit.

Obama does not put all his eggs in one basket, but has his investments spread out to limit the risks. He put more then 200,000 dollars in a savings account for his daughters’ education. That, at least, makes Obama “a good man.”

How much is Obama worth?

His total fortune is roughly estimated to be between 2,022,016 and 7,356,000 dollars, which makes him worth between 1.6 and 5.7 million euros. That places him as number 31 on the list of the richest senators. John McCain is listed as number 12 (between 20,411,154 and 36,493,006 dollars). Hillary Clinton is listed one place above him: her fortune is estimated to be between 10,359,018 and 51,216,999 dollars.