Economy
Trump Becomes America's Richest President, Pushing Out George Washington
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George Washington has been America’s richest president, as well as its first. According to the ongoing 24/7 Wall St. study of the net worth of presidents, Washington’s fortune peaked at $580 million. Donald Trump’s is well above that, which moves him into first place. His net worth has been conservatively estimated at $2.9 billion, and as high as $10 billion.
Washington and Trump share one thing in common. Each made his fortune on real estate. The 24/7 Wall St. analysis of Washington shows:
His Virginia plantation, Mount Vernon, consisted of five separate farms on 8,000 acres of prime farmland.
Much of the balance of his net worth was because he owned people. He owned 300 slaves.
Our analysis shows Trump’s net worth has been the cause of a great deal of dispute:
Even at the lowest estimate, and when adjusting for inflation, Donald Trump is far and away the wealthiest person to ever be elected president. His precise net worth, however, is difficult to gauge, as media estimates, his FEC financial disclosure, and statements from his own campaign vary widely. Bloomberg and Forbes estimated Trump’s net worth at $2.9 billion and $4 billion, respectively. Trump, meanwhile, claimed a net worth of $10 billion. Trump appeared capable of funding his entire campaign himself.
Our methodology:
For comparison purposes, we provided net worth figures for each president in 2016 dollars. Because a number of presidents, particularly in the early 19th century, made and lost huge fortunes in a matter of a few years, we only provided each president’s net worth at its peak.
In the case of each president we have taken into account hard assets such as land, estimated lifetime savings based on work history, inheritance, homes, and money paid for services, including such diverse incomes as salary as collector of customs at the Port of New York to Fortune 500 board memberships. We have also taken into account royalties on books, along with ownership of companies and yields from family estates.
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