We know Hillary Clinton is rich. But in a presidential race against a billionaire and a crowdsourcer, what does that mean?
In the 2016 election, Clinton occupies a strange middle ground. While still a millionaire, she’s not as rich as presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump. However, she’s still a member of the 1%, who has been decried by her Democratic opponent Bernie Sanders as being out of touch with the needs of average Americans.
So, how rich is Clinton really? Well, it depends on how you measure it.
According to the tax returns released by the Clinton campaign, the Clinton’s combined family income in 2014 was over $28 million, which primarily came from speaking events or consulting gigs. Her financial disclosure forms from the same year, filed to the Federal Elections Committee, show assets valuing between $11.3 million and $52.7 million. The assets are reported as being within a possible range of values, making their exact worth unclear.
The general consensus tends to put her somewhere in the middle, with Politico saying Clinton is worth about $32 million, and Forbes rating her at $45 million. Fortune, however, claims that the Clintons combined are worth $110 million.
While Clinton has been more transparent with her finances than Trump, she’s still been hesitant to get too specific. In 2014, she drew ire for claiming that her family was “dead broke” when they left the White House in 2000, a statement that PolitiFact rated Mostly False.
Since then, she’s been more careful about her financial disclosures. In an interview with Fusion that same year, Clinton declined to be more specific about her financial state, saying that the Clintons had “two very nice houses,” and confirming that her worth was in the millions.
And that, unfortunately, is about as much of an answer as we’re likely to get. Though it’s important to remember that how much money a candidate has, actually has little bearing on their campaign. According to The New York Times, Clinton has spent $181 million with $77 million still available — a campaign war chest that is far more than her personal worth, no matter what metric you use.
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