Is Obama personally wealthy?

[Lucy Goosey]

I had always thought that being so successful in American politics required an enormous amount of personal wealth, but I haven't heard much about whatever fortune he might have. Obviously McCain, Clinton, Edwards, Romney, etc are all multi-millionaires, so if Obama won the nomination without this kind of bank account, I'm even more impressed with the man than I already was.

(Forgive me if this is a stupid question - I live in Canada.)

[Starbucks Anarchist]

1. I think he's got a few million, but it's mostly from book sales.

[Lucy Goosey]

8. Ah, yes, the books. I forgot about the books.

Thanks!

[Max_powers94]

2. He just became a little wealthy within the last two years

[PBS Poll-435]

3. As a best-selling author. and having two 6 figure W-2 incomes...

They are rich.

And a hell of a lot "richer" than the Clintons were before 1992

[cali]

4. Yes, he's wealthy. He became so through his 2 best selling books.

His wealth is nothing compared to McCain's or Clinton's or Romney's, but he he's worth several million.

[FlaGranny]

5. Nowhere near wealthy when

compared to other present and previous candidates. I don't remember exactly, but I think they earned a couple hundred thousand a year until he wrote his books. Most of his income came from the books. It took them a long time to pay off their student loans and they were, more or less, struggling middle class at that time.

[pnwmom]

20. Actually, he and Michelle have a great deal more than the Clintons did

when Bill was elected President. They didn't make much as the Governor of Arkansas and an attorney there, and they had had no book deals.

[NightWatcher]

6. more than 1.5 million donors put him over the top. he did not loan himself anything

nor did he have to pull a Mittens and use only his money.

WE donated to him. He is the people's candidate

[Kerrytravelers]

7. He is worth about $4 million. Which, in the world of politics and in comparison to this rivals, is

peanuts. Most of the money came from book sales. I saw Michelle at a Women for Obama rally and she made the remark that they had both just finished paying off their school loans with the money from the book sales. These are not people who come from money.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

18. I think that's a very appealing part of their story.

[Jersey Devil]

9. Until he sold his books he was still paying off college loans

So no, he was not wealthy up until only a few years ago. I think he made something like $7 million from the books.

[SteppingRazor]

10. Neither Michelle nor Barack Obama grew up wealthy ...

and there's the now-famous story that the royalties from book sales allowed Barack Obama to finally pay off his student loans from college. But certainly, at the present time, they ain't hurtin'.

[rox63]

11. The Obama's are wealthy compared to most of us

But as politicians go, not so much. Strong sales of Barack's 2 books have helped increase their net worth. But it wasn't that many years ago that they finished paying off their student loans. I think the book income helped with that.

[Marrah_G]

12. His wife makes a great deal of money

and he made quite a bit from his books sales.

They are not as wealthy as some politicians, but they are doing extremely well for themselves.

[undeterred]

13. Neither he nor his wife come from wealthy families

but they were both smart enough to get into the best schools and get the best education. Things have gone well for them because of their hard work.

[Orangepeel]

14. compared to me? Yes. compared to other Senators and POTUS candidates? No.

It's all relative.

[slackmaster]

15. The Obama household has a whole lot more income than mine does

I guess that makes them wealthy to me.

[backscatter712]

16. He only recently became wealthy.

Up until a couple years ago, he was simply middle class, or even working class - working as a community organizer.

It's only after he became a U.S. Senator, and sales of The Audacity of Hope took off, when he acquired his current wealth of what? 4 million?

[ingac70]

17. Obama's net worth is $1.3 million.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/moneymag/0712/gallery.candidates.moneymag/5.html

[pnwmom]

21. Those figures are from 2006 and don't include Michelle's retirement funds.

I'm sure he's worth significantly more now.

[papapi]

19. His wealth was earned on merit just like his nomination...

no one can fault him on that. His books are bestsellers.

[Seabiscuit]

22. Well he's not really that wealthy compared to others in politics, but I'm sure he'll get there. nt