00:00Hi, everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis with Forbes breaking news. Joining me now is my Forbes
00:07colleague, staff writer Zach Everson. Zach, thanks for joining me once again.
00:12Thanks for having me on once again, Brittany.
00:14Of course, Forbes is estimating the net worth of President Joe Biden. You have the number.
00:20How much is the commander in chief worth?
00:23It is about $10 million, which is the same as what we valued him at earlier this year
00:29and also last year.
00:31So $10 million making Joe Biden a multimillionaire. I mean, this is at odds with his middle class
00:38Joe persona. Can you talk about that a little bit for us?
00:42Yeah, obviously, $10 million. It's a solid amount. It's you know, I would I would like
00:50very much like to have $10 million right now. But remember, this isn't like it's all liquid
00:54and cash right there. It's it's he's got a lot of money that he made from his government
00:58pension. He's been working in government for decades, and that's just compounded.
01:02And then he's made a few good real estate purchases in terms of buying a house in Wilmington,
01:08Delaware and also his vacation home in Rehoboth, which is really what's what's led to one of
01:13the greatest increases. You know, he also did pretty well the four years he was out
01:17of office where he was making some money with speeches and books.
01:21By the numbers, the economy is doing a lot better than it has been the past couple of
01:25years. But as we know, economic concerns continue to be top of mind for voters, especially
01:30as we head into the November presidential election. And as you point out in your piece,
01:35many Americans are concerned about inflation, high interest rates, flat wages and stagnating
01:40home values. And many of them pin the blame on President Joe Biden. But as it turns out,
01:47he's suffering from the same issues. Can you talk about that?
01:50Yeah, possibly even more so, at least in terms of salary. The president has been paid
01:5640, excuse me, four hundred thousand dollars a year since George W. Bush entered the White
02:01House in 2001. So there has been no raise for the occupant of the White House. So, I
02:06mean, that is that is flat. They did not put any sort of adjustment for inflation when
02:11Congress passed the bill that raised the salary. So, you know, as a result, Biden's getting
02:15paid four hundred thousand dollars. The equivalent, George, the four hundred thousand dollars
02:19George W. Bush was getting back in 2001 is worth about seven hundred and seventeen thousand
02:25dollars in today's purchasing power. So, you know, obviously, presidents back 20 years
02:29ago when they passed this law were able to do more with the salary than what what Biden
02:33can do with his right now. Yeah, definitely. Four hundred thousand dollars in the early
02:372000s got you a lot farther than it does today. But as you noted, he has a lot of his money
02:43tied up in real estate, two thirds of his fortune, according to your report. And you
02:48are saying that he has his financial well-being has been tied up in real estate for a while.
02:53So can you talk about his portfolio for us? Yeah, so right now he has the two houses,
02:58one in Wilmington, one in Delaware, and they are flat in terms of valuation from last year.
03:03We haven't seen much appreciation there, but he at a young age got into real estate. You
03:08know, once he started making money after coming out of law school, he kept buying houses.
03:13He ended up buying three houses at one point that he was living in a fourth property that
03:18he was getting not having to pay rent for in exchange for managing a swimming pool.
03:23So he had those three properties. He ended up selling them to buy one property that he
03:28was going to move the whole family into. And then they fell in love with a different property
03:31and bought that one. And then shortly after he was elected to the Senate, they bought
03:37a house in Chevy Chase, Maryland as well. So he was back to having two homes there.
03:42Another pattern he has found himself in is refinancing and tapping into those properties
03:47before when he's needed cash. So can you talk about those times for us?
03:52Yeah. So, you know, originally those homes were all making money for him is via renting
03:58them out. Most recently in, excuse me, Rehoboth, he took out a loan. This is another area where
04:05he's getting hit by inflation. It had a variable interest rate plus one point nine nine percent.
04:09So a couple of years ago, I think the amount that he had borrowed from it was somewhere
04:13between fifteen thousand and fifty thousand. Most recently, he in his latest disclosure
04:19disclosed that he has taken out borrowed about one hundred thousand to two hundred and fifty
04:23thousand off against it. So, you know, it's one way to make up for your salary staying
04:27flat is to just keep tapping into the equity you have in your house.
04:32Is it normal to repeatedly refinance over and over again?
04:38You know, that's a good question. I'm not an expert in that, but I certainly know, you
04:42know, as a former homeowner that, you know, what it's it can certainly be beneficial depending
04:47on how interest rates change. And a lot of Americans do tap into their house for equity.
04:54You noted before that in 2016, after he left office as vice president, he made a good chunk
05:00of change. How did he do this?
05:03Books, speeches, the usual ways that former politicians make some money after after leaving
05:10the public sector. So he did pretty well during that four years earlier.
05:15When we looked at his wealth several years ago, we realized he probably could have made
05:18more and done better with his investments if he had put them in other places.
05:23So while he is worth ten million dollars, that number could probably have been higher if
05:27he had made some different choices.
05:29So looking at the past, when he first left office, let's say he doesn't win reelection
05:35and he leaves office again in 2025, would he make more money out of office opposed to
05:40that 400000 dollar salary?
05:43He certainly would have the possibility of making more money than that 400000 dollar
05:47salary. I mean, it's also likely, you know, if he were to lose, he may just want to retire
05:51because he is certainly of that age.
05:55Aside from his real estate and his salary, what are the other assets that make up his
05:59fortune? The big ones are his pensions, and then he has an annuity that holds I think
06:05it's about 10 different mutual funds in it as well.
06:08And he's got a few bank accounts with some cash.
06:11So ten million dollars, nothing to sneeze at for sure.
06:15But how does this stack up to his predecessor and biggest competitor now, Donald
06:20Trump's worth? It is pennies compared to what Donald Trump has.
06:26I don't know the exact number right now because that truth that Trump media stock has
06:30been bouncing all over the place of late.
06:32But, you know, Trump is worth five, six, seven billion dollars typically when I when I
06:37look at it. So, you know, this this 10 million dollars is certainly nice.
06:41But for Trump to compare it, it's about the value of, I think, one home that he has in
06:46the Virgin Islands that he's been trying to get rid of.
06:48So it's a rounding error for Trump.
06:50Well, Zach Everson, per usual, thanks for your reporting.
06:54Thanks for having me on again.
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