Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate this week and comparisons with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s vice president pick J.D. Vance show they are like chalk and cheese at least from the perspective of their wealth.
Wealthy Vance Vs. Unaffluent Walz: It’s a tale of two politicians as far as Vance and Walz are concerned, with Vance sporting the multi-millionaire tag through his home ownership and investment in financial assets, the Wall Street Journal said in a report. Walz, meanwhile, does not have the luxury of home ownership and his investments are limited to pensions and a college savings plan.
To put things in perspective, if Harris and Walz come out trumps, the latter is eligible for a $235,000, a 50% jump in his salary, the report said.
Where Vance’s Wealth Comes From: The financial disclosure form filed with the Senate showed Vance earned between $1.2 million and $1.3 million in 2022, the Journal said. The sources of his 2022 income, according to the Journal, are as follows:
- Narya Capital Management ( a firm Vance co-founded): $945,000 as a share of profit and $110,146 in salary
- Book royalties from HarperCollins: $121,376 (Vance had authored ‘Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,’ in which he shares his growing-up years and the struggles of the middle class)
- Rental income (from townhouse in Washington D.C): between $15,001 and $50,000
- stock dividends and interest on bank deposits: between $34,411 and $102,000
- Spouse’s salary is mentioned as over $1,000 from her stint as a lawyer at Munger Tolles & Olson (Usha Chilukuri has since then quit her job following her husband’s nomination for the vice president post)
- Vance’s stakes in companies, most of them privately through venture capital funds: between $790,000 and $3.4 million
- Brokerage accounts, mainly investments in oil and gold: between $2 million and $4.2 million
- Bitcoin BTC/USD: between $100,001 to $250,000
- Bank accounts held by Vance and his spouse: between $853,010 and $1.8 million
Vance’s wife held several retirement funds, three college savings accounts and a checking account cumulatively worth $165,010 to $525,000, the Journal said, citing a financial disclosure amendment shared with it, which his campaign team plans to file this week.
In addition to the Washington D.C. townhouse, the Vances own a five-bedroom home in Cincinnati, bought in 2018 for about $1.39 million, and a 2,500-square-foot home in Alexandria, Virginia purchased for around $1.6 million in 2023.
Vance has sought an extension to file his 2023 federal disclosure and so the most updated information is not publicly available as of yet.
Where Walz’s Wealth Comes From: The 2019 financial disclosure by Walz and his wife Gwen Walz showed a net worth between $112,003 and $330,000, the Journal reported. Federal pension benefits could work out to $800,000, the report said, citing the Journal’s estimate. The 2022 tax return filed by Walz showed no dividend or capital gains income.
The 2022 tax filing showed that Walz’ earned $166,719 in pre-tax income in 2022, with $116,000 coming as salary for his job as governor and $51,000 from the governor’s wife as an educator. Since then the salary for governorship has been increased to $149,550. The 529 plan the couple has is worth between $1,001 and $15,000, and their life insurance policies are between $30,002 and $100,000. The four pensions the couple has have an estimated lump sum value of between $81,000 and $215,000.
Since Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic Party’s nominee, she has gained an edge over her Republican rival. Most nationwide polls project an edge for the vice president, garnering rising support among certain demographic groups.
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