Barack Obama has enjoyed an extremely successful career both inside and outside the political sphere. Since his two terms in the White House he has substantially grown his net worth.
What is Barack Obama’s net worth?
Barack Obama’s current net worth is estimated to be around $70 million.
Who Is Barack Obama?
Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States of America and served in office as a Democrat from 2009 to 2017, succeeding George W Bush. Obama is recognized as the first African American president and has dedicated his life to making real-world changes.
He attended Harvard Law School and served in the Illinois Senate from 1996 before progressing to the United States Senate in 2004. During his term, Obama passed many successful bills aimed at contributing to the financial and health care affordability crisis faced by individuals in the United States.
Following his final term in office, President Barack Obama now spends his time with his wife Michelle and their two daughters. Alongside his duties as a father, Obama has continued to grow and invest in the well-being of those around him by developing programs, scholarships, and more that help to increase the chances of success for underserved communities. His investments have consistently grown and contributed to his net worth.
What Does Net Worth Mean?
Net worth explains the value of your assets. People often confuse a person’s net worth with how much money they have. However, we often own assets with more monetary value than we have available in cash.
A person’s net worth will ideally increase with the number of investments that person makes and the less debt they owe. It can be difficult to determine precisely what debt someone has paid off or what they owe, so net worth typically includes the sum of the value of those investments.
An individual’s net worth will generally include the value of their businesses, personal homes, other real estate, vehicles, and investments with monetary value. The older you are, the higher your net worth is likely to be. This isn’t true in every case, and factors such as status or salary can act as a catalyst for a person’s net worth.
Barack Obama’s Net Worth
At 60, Barack Hussein Obama’s net worth is reported as $70 million, which interestingly, is considerably less than Nancy Pelosi’s net worth. It is approximately 350 times the average net worth of an American his age. The average 60-year-old’s net worth in America is roughly $200,000.
There are a number of factors contributing to his net worth that the average American doesn’t have, including his recent presidency. When President Barack Obama was first elected, his net worth was around 1.3 million. Although his time in the White House helped, Obama has now branched into new professions as a writer, speaker, entrepreneur, and more. Alongside his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, he has continuously grown his family’s wealth.
Here are some of the benefits and investments that significantly contribute to the growth of Obama’s net worth. This list is not exhaustive but includes his most prominent assets.
Presidential Benefits
Barack Obama, of course, receives monetary benefits for serving as President of the United States. There are lots of financial benefits associated with becoming president. The most significant two are the president’s salary and their pension.
The advantage of the president’s salary over the average person’s salary is that the president doesn’t have personal expenses as their home, food, and travel are all essentially paid for. This has allowed Barack Obama to set aside funds for various ventures and investments.
Barack Hussein Obama’s salary was approximately $400,000 per annum. This means that Obama earned around 3.2 million in compensation during his presidency.
Now that he’s former President Obama, he earns a pension of approximately $200,000 a year. The Secretary of the Treasury pays this.
There are other benefits, such as health care. These don’t necessarily increase Barack’s income but indirectly contribute to his net worth by decreasing expenses.
Obama The Author
A highly rated author, Barack Obama has earned millions of dollars off the royalties and advances from his books. One of his biggest deals is his and Michelle’s $65 million advances for his memoir “A Promised Land” from Penguin Random House.
“A Promised Land” was released in 2020 and sold over 890,000 copies within the first 24 hours in the United States and Canada. Today it is estimated that over 2 million copies have been sold.
“Audacity of Hope” was written by Obama in 2006 but didn’t take off until after he was elected into office. He signed a deal for approximately $500,000, half as royalties to him and the other have to the publisher.
“A Letter to my Daughters” is also written by Barack Obama.
“Dreams From My Father” is a children’s book written by Obama in 1995, which he originally received an advance of approximately $30,000 for. He was offered a better deal worth roughly $1.9 million during his campaign.
The Obama Foundation
The Obama Foundation is home to an abundance of initiatives from the Obamas and the future home to the Obama Presidential Center. The Obama Foundation’s average revenue was approximately $232,000 a year in 2017, with 24% contributing to general and administrative costs, the rest going to fundraisers and programs.
The Obama Foundation is located on the south side of Chicago and currently funds a few initiatives. Some of their more popular initiatives include:
The Leaders Program – is a program started in 2018 that brings together leaders from all over the world to help make social changes and impacts. The Leaders Program was first launched in Africa and has continued to increase its geographical reach.
My Brother’s Keeper Alliance – an initiative inspired by Trayvon Martin that works with communities to build the knowledge and confidence of young men of color.
Scholars Program – a program that works with community leaders worldwide to help them make their impact.
Summit – an annual event that brings together leaders to discuss and inspire.
Higher Ground Productions
Higher Ground is a film production company founded by Barack Obama and his wife in 2018. Higher Grounds produces a variety of genres, including informational content for families and kids.
Get Smarter on US News, History, and the Constitution
One of the most famous productions from the company is “Becoming,” a documentary that takes a behind-the-scenes look into the life of Michelle and Barack Obama. It was essentially a memoir by Michelle based on her book “Becoming.”
Soon after the release of Higher Grounds and the establishment of their executive team, they partnered with Netflix in 2018. The contract allows Netflix to order content from the company for new releases. Currently, Netflix and Higher Ground productions are working on the release of a biopic series along with a content series for kids.
Higher Ground has already produced several successful films besides “Becoming” during this partnership, including “American Factory,” “Crip Camp,” “Rustin,” and “Worth.” Almost all the films were made to shed light on the problems faced by Americans in everyday life. The film American Factory won several awards, including Academy Award for best documentary.
Royalties from Higher Ground will consistently contribute to the growth of Obama’s net worth.
Personal Investments
Barack Obama was knowledgeable about finances and investing his money in his early days too. Before becoming president, Obama had two main types of investments: Financial Funds and United States Treasury notes and bills.
The Obama family still chooses to invest on the safe side. They’re currently holding between $1 million to $5 million in Treasury notes that generated at least $5,000 in interest last year. The Obama family also holds at least $250,000 in U.S Treasury bills.
Obama continues to invest in financial funds to help grow his net worth passively. He has at least $300,000 invested in a variety of index funds. It’s unknown exactly how much he has in index funds, but according to some sources, it could be up to $700,000.
The fact that the former president makes a lot of money from his financial investment choices is no surprise. Since before he was appointed into office, Barack Obama had been working on building his wealth via index funds. He typically chooses to invest in Vanguard index funds, and this may be due to a preference for the company’s service or financial advice.
The Obama Mansion
The Obama family purchased the Obama Mansion in December of 2019 for approximately $12 million. The mansion is a waterfront home located on an island in Massachusetts. It’s 6,892 square feet and offers a beautiful view of the ocean. The Obamas chose this location because their family has been vacationing there for years, and it seemed like the perfect fit post-Washington.
The Obama mansion can account for approximately 17% of Barack’s net worth. The home has been designed to accommodate important meetings and guests. The house will be considered historic in the future, and the price of the home will likely increase substantially.
Pre President Salary
Barack Obama was a generally successful American before he became president. He attended law school, so likely saved money from his law professor salary and used it to invest. He then moved on to start his career in politics in the United States Senate.
He first ran for office as an Illinois Senator for the Democratic Party back in 1996, where he came up against Harold Washington. He won by a landslide. He served from 1996 to 2002 and received an excellent salary during this time. This was only the beginning of his love for helping people. He continued to run for more political positions and then eventually became president.
Barack Obama’s pre-president life paid him a salary that allowed him to save and invest. Now that Barack has retired from multiple careers in politics, he receives multiple pensions.
Speeches
Obama is known for his ability to give grand and well-received speeches. There is no denying that giving speeches is a lucrative source of income for Obama.
As a best-selling author who has a way with words, Barack Obama has made millions simply by talking. He is one of the highest-paid speakers among presidents, with an average of $400,000 per speech.
Speeches continue to help Barack Obama continue to increase his income and grow his net worth.
Net Worth Comparisons
Let’s compare Barack Obama’s net worth to a few other political candidates. It’s expected for Obama to have more income than the average American, but let’s see how he’s doing compared to other politicians.
Barack Obama
Net Worth: 70M
Age: 60
Donald Trump: The 45th President of the United States.
Net Worth: 2.5B
Age: 75
Hillary Clinton: Wife of President Bill Clinton, lawyer, writer, she ran for president in 2016 against Donald Trump.
Net Worth: 120 M
Age: 74
Joe Biden: The 46th President of the United States, served for six years as vice president under Barack Obama.
Net Worth: 9M
Age: 79
Mitt Romney: Ran against Barack Obama in 2012. Current United States Senator from Utah.
Net Worth: 450M
Age: 75
Although most have a higher net worth, Barack Obama is standing up well against his colleagues financially. At 60 years old, Barack Obama is younger than most of his political counterparts. However, he is well on track to achieve a comparable net worth is 10 -15 years.
Barack Obama Net Worth Predictions
Upon analyzing Barack Obama’s current net worth, investments, and financial strategy, we predict that his net worth will continue to grow as time passes. Obama will continue to receive presidential benefits, a pension from his time working in Illinois, earn interest from his current investments and treasury bills, make his home historic, increase the value of his businesses and build his legacy.
Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, has spent his life working hard and investing his income for his family. Barack has improved his net worth over time by investing in the lives and well-being of Americans.
