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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