Vice President Kamala Harris’ wealth comes from her decades in public service, book royalties and investments.
Harris, 60, and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, also 60, are worth about $8 million, according to an estimate by Forbes.
Day jobs
The Democratic nominee for president spent most of her adult life in government, starting out as district attorney in San Francisco, before serving as California’s attorney general and then as a U.S. senator before becoming President Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020.
Harris was San Francisco’s district attorney from 2004 to 2010, making about $200,000 a year by the end of her tenure, according to Forbes. She took a pay cut when she became California’s attorney general, earning $159,000 a year.
Harris was elected to the Senate in 2016, a job that comes with a salary of $174,000 a year. As vice president, Harris makes $235,100 a year.
Emhoff was an entertainment lawyer for three decades before giving up a lucrative career to support Harris.
Public disclosures
The vice president has regularly disclosed her income and assets in forms filed with the Office of Government Ethics.
Released by the White House in May, the latest public disclosure report for 2023 shows Harris taking a hands-off approach to investing, with the vice president’s portfolio holding millions in passively managed index funds.
The form shows eight different funds that Harris is invested in as part of two deferred compensation plans accrued during the period she was employed in California, while also a participant in certain defined benefit pension plans. Those pensions are worth less than $1 million, according to Forbes.
Emhoff listed 30-plus investments, most passively managed as well.
The form showed asset ranges for each fund, instead of the specific amounts invested.
Both Harris and Emhoff disclosed cash holdings that could total $850,000 or more, based on the ranges shown.
An analysis by Barron’s pegged the couple’s holdings — including retirement accounts, other investments and cash — at between $2.9 million and $6.6 million.
The disclosure also shows Harris and Emhoff holding a family trust called The KDH/DCE Family Trust.
A gift that keeps giving: Beyoncé
Illustrating an investment style dubbed “boring” and relatively free of financial conflicts by financial experts interviewed by CNBC, the most tantalizing detail of the form could be a gift valued at $1,655.92 from Beyoncé Knowles-Carter: tickets to a concert by the superstar singer. (Beyoncé’s “Freedom” is Harris’ campaign song, and the the musician has endorsed her candidacy.)
Harris was also gifted tickets by ESPN to a football game between Florida A&M University and her alma mater, Howard University, worth $1,890.00.
Harris has earned more than $500,00 in royalties from books she’s authored, including “Smart on Crime,” the 2019 children’s book “Superheroes are Everywhere,” and her 2019 memoir, “The Truths We Hold.”
Harris and Emhoff own a home together in Los Angeles that is worth more than $4 million, according to Forbes.
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