Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Nicole Shanahan, a Silicon Valley lawyer, as his running mate at a rally on Tuesday. Shanahan, who has no prior background in politics, told the Oakland, California crowd that her goals as vice president are “to serve peace and to help those in poverty.” She brings something else to the ticket, though: cash. She is the richest VP candidate in half a century.
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2024/03/28/how-nicole-shanahan-rfks-vp-pick-got-rich-plus-reclaim-your-financial-power/?sh=1ec8271f5b87
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Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2024/03/28/how-nicole-shanahan-rfks-vp-pick-got-rich-plus-reclaim-your-financial-power/?sh=1ec8271f5b87
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Friday, March 29.
00:05 Today on Forbes, how Nicole Shanahan, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s VP pick, got so rich.
00:13 At a rally on Tuesday, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced
00:19 Nicole Shanahan, a Silicon Valley lawyer, as his running mate.
00:23 Shanahan, who has no prior background in politics, told the Oakland, California crowd that her
00:29 goals as vice president are, quote, "to serve peace and to help those in poverty."
00:35 She brings something else to the ticket, though.
00:37 Cash, which the campaign needs to fund its drive for ballot access in all 50 states.
00:44 The 38-year-old lawyer, whose family relied on food stamps when she was a child, didn't
00:48 become rich in her current job, heading up a non-profit she founded called the Bia Echo
00:53 Foundation.
00:54 Instead, according to Forbes' estimates, Shanahan's wealth comes from her previous marriage to
01:00 Sergey Brin, the Google co-founder whose net worth Forbes estimates at more than $120 billion,
01:07 enough to rank him as the 10th richest person in the world.
01:11 Shanahan wed Brin in 2018, two decades after he launched Google.
01:15 It was the second marriage for both of them.
01:18 The couple divorced in May 2023, reportedly because Shanahan had an affair with Elon Musk,
01:24 an allegation both Musk and Shanahan denied.
01:28 Divorce records are not clear on how much Shanahan walked away with, and neither she
01:32 nor Brin responded to requests for comment.
01:34 But Brin's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission offer revealing information.
01:40 The documents show a decrease in his Class B shares of Alphabet, Google's parent company,
01:45 totaling some 2.6 million shares sometime between May and December 2023.
01:52 During that period, he did not report any share sales or gifts, which would normally
01:57 be required for Brin, an Alphabet director who owns more than 5% of the company's shares.
02:03 In all likelihood, those shares, worth about $390 million at current prices, went to Shanahan.
02:11 Transfers due to divorce do not need to be disclosed immediately in insider transaction
02:15 filings, according to four experts contacted by Forbes.
02:19 Instead, these types of transfers are typically disclosed the next time someone sells or gifts
02:25 shares.
02:26 Giovanni Caruso, a lawyer at Loeb & Loeb in New York who specializes in securities law,
02:32 tells Forbes, at that point, "There should be a footnote explaining that the transaction
02:37 was taking place pursuant to divorce proceedings."
02:41 Caruso declined to comment on the specifics of Brin's case.
02:45 Brin hasn't sold Alphabet shares in nearly two years, and he last gifted Alphabet shares
02:50 in May 2023 before his divorce finalized, so that rules out those options.
02:56 Another securities lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous because of his work with the tech
03:00 sector, says, "If it's a disposition, it's either a divorce or the $10,000 exception."
03:06 The decrease was worth well over $10,000, eliminating a loophole for small transactions
03:13 and leaving a divorce-related transfer as the only remaining option.
03:18 California is a community property state, meaning that assets are by default divided
03:22 50/50 in a divorce.
03:24 However, Brin and Shanahan had a prenuptial agreement, per court filings and reporting
03:29 by the Wall Street Journal, which would negate the 50/50 rule and classify their assets either
03:34 as community property—generally assets they acquired while in the marriage—or separate
03:39 property—generally assets the individuals owned or inherited before they were married.
03:45 Approximately 90% of Brin's estimated net worth is held in Alphabet shares, almost all
03:50 of which he acquired as a co-founder decades before he married Shanahan, so they were likely
03:55 separate property.
03:57 In divorce negotiations, the journal article notes, Shanahan asked for more than $1 billion,
04:03 or around 1% of Brin's estimated net worth at the time, claiming that she signed the
04:07 prenuptial agreement under duress and while pregnant.
04:12 Assuming that Brin's SEC filings show a transfer to Shanahan, she didn't get close to $1 billion
04:17 in Class B shares.
04:19 Even if Shanahan only got Class B shares, a fortune of around $400 million would still
04:24 make her the wealthiest vice presidential pick in decades, likely since Nelson Rockefeller,
04:30 Gerald Ford's VP.
04:33 For full coverage, check out Kyle Mullins and Phoebe Liu's piece on Forbes.com.
04:39 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.
04:41 Thanks for tuning in.
04:43 "
04:49 (upbeat music)
04:51 (upbeat music)