• 6 months ago
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.

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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Transcript
00:00Today, on Forbes, here's how much Joe Biden is worth.
00:06America's economy is booming, with the stock market up 15 percent over the last six months,
00:11and 24 percent in the last year.
00:14Yet much of the country doesn't feel any richer, thanks to a host of underlying complications,
00:19including stagnating home values, flat wages, high interest rates, and stubborn inflation.
00:25The man many people blame for those issues, rightly or wrongly, is affected by them, too.
00:30Joe Biden's net worth has stalled out at an estimated $10 million.
00:36About two-thirds of the president's fortune is locked up in real estate.
00:39He owns two homes in Delaware, a Wilmington mansion and a 4,800-square-foot summer abode
00:45in Rehoboth Beach.
00:46The beach house was just the kind of property that surged during the pandemic, as pent-up
00:51city-dwellers flocked to nature, boosting the value of Biden's home to $4.5 million.
00:57That was $1.8 million more than he paid for it in 2017.
01:02But elevated interest rates have cooled housing prices over the past 12 months, and the values
01:06of Biden's two homes have flatlined.
01:09The president's wages are also stuck in place.
01:12He earns $400,000 a year, the same salary as every Oval Office occupant since George W. Bush.
01:20Biden has reduced the purchasing power of that paycheck, however.
01:23The $400,000 Bush made in 2001 is equivalent to $717,000 in today's dollars.
01:30To loosen up some liquidity, Biden secured a $250,000 line of credit in 2022, drawing
01:37more than $100,000 on it by the end of 2023.
01:41The liability comes with a variable interest rate of prime plus 1.99 percent, meaning that
01:46the president's borrowing costs increase as interest rates go up.
01:52Biden's financial well-being has been tied to real estate for his entire adult life.
01:56Optimistic about his future and eager to establish a homestead for his young family, Biden went
02:01on a buying spree beginning in 1969, spending much of his money and borrowing more.
02:07His father-in-law provided a loan for a home in Newark, Delaware.
02:11But before long, Biden had his eye on another one in Wilmington, too.
02:15He convinced his parents to purchase the second property.
02:18Biden then bought their home and leased it out.
02:21He lived in a nearby cottage, managing a country club swimming pool in exchange for free rent.
02:26In his 2007 memoir, he wrote, quote,
02:29I was probably the only working attorney in Delaware who lifeguarded on Saturdays.
02:35Carrying three bank mortgages and still indebted to his father-in-law, Biden fell in love with
02:40a fourth house, a 1723 colonial on four acres 20 minutes north of Wilmington.
02:46He bought that, too, selling his other three homes to pay for it.
02:50In 1972, he won his campaign to become a U.S. senator from Delaware.
02:55A month later, his wife, Nelia, and infant daughter, Naomi, tragically died in a car
03:00accident that also injured their sons, Bo and Hunter.
03:04The newly widowed senator then looked to sell his Delaware home.
03:08In his memoir, he wrote, quote,
03:11It wasn't that there were too many memories there, but too few.
03:14It represented all our lost dreams.
03:16The house, still spare in its furnishings, was like a reminder of the things that would
03:21never be.
03:24Years later, after Obama left the White House, Biden joined the private sector for the first
03:29time since 1972.
03:32Cash came pouring in as Biden sold books and delivered speeches, collecting $11.1 million
03:38in 2017.
03:40Biden did what he always did, put the money in real estate, splurging on a $2.7 million
03:45summer home in Rehoboth Beach.
03:48He's borrowed against that home, too.
03:50Financial disclosures, which only require politicians to list the value of their loans
03:54in broad ranges, show that Biden took out $15,000 to $50,000 against the line of credit
04:00in 2022, then upped the total amount he borrowed at least another $50,000 last year.
04:07The remainder of Biden's portfolio is tied up in mundane assets, a $1 million pension
04:12for him, a $250,000 pension for Jill, an annuity, and some cash.
04:18But Biden may have a chance to add more flavor to his fortune shortly.
04:22Ex-presidents tend to do quite well after their time in office ends.
04:26And if he can't stay in the White House, Biden may find another home he wants to purchase.
04:31For full coverage, check out Zach Everson's piece on Forbes.com.
04:37This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.
04:39Thanks for tuning in.

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