money How much are Sen. Kamala Harris and her husband worth?
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) made history this week as former Vice President turned presidential candidate Joe Biden announced the pair will share the Democratic ticket in 2020.
Although receiving national attention as a presidential primary contender, Harris ultimately bowed out of the race in December, citing sinking poll numbers and funding issues.
“My campaign for president simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue. I’m not a billionaire. I can’t fund my own campaign,” she wrote in her concession announcement, taking a not-so-subtle dig toward her billionaire opponents Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer, who openly self-funded their ill-fated presidential bids.
But Harris is a bonafide millionaire and part of the rarefied 1% of U.S. households in income, according to financial disclosures and tax documents from the senator. Here’s what we know about her personal finances.
Between Harris and her husband, fellow attorney Doug Emhoff, their combined net worth comprised of assets, savings, investments, and retirement accounts — minus liabilities — stands between $2.4 million and $5.6 million, according to calculations from financial disclosure documents submitted in May 2019.
The median American household’s net worth is $97,300, while the average is $692,100, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve.
She and her husband also earned $1.89 million in 2018, according to reports on her tax returns from last year, that included $320,125 from her second non-fiction book, “The Truths We Hold.” To break into the top 1% in household income, a household must bring in at least $475,116 in gross income, according to DQYDJ.com’s income calculator.
Harris earned a modest income in her climb from Bay Area prosecutor to San Francisco district attorney, and then California attorney general when her salary was $158,000 and her charitable contributions were zero, according to her 2011-2013 tax returns she released last year when a primary candidate.
The biggest boost to her wealth came through her marriage in 2014. The Harris-Emhoff union created a California power couple of influence and wealth, and their combined income in their first year of marriage was more than $1.3 million with $410,000 paid in taxes and $60,000 donated to charities, according to reports of her tax returns.
Based on 2018 tax returns obtained by the New York Times, the Biden/Harris ticket is the wealthiest of all the combinations of the Democratic hopefuls in 2020. Harris’s adjusted gross income (AGI) was nearly $1.9 million, putting her directly behind her running mate, Joe Biden with his $4.5 million in income.
Last year, Harris released 15 years’ worth of tax returns — including the most recent five years she filed jointly with her husband — to demonstrate her transparency as a candidate.
Those tax returns are no longer available online, but it was reported that in 2018 the pair paid about $697,000 in overall taxes including $225,440 in state and local taxes, of which they were only able to deduct $10,000 because of President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Over the last five years, they’ve paid more than $2.2 million in federal taxes and contributed $27,259 to charities.
Independent of her husband, Harris’s earned over $556,000 in book advances as a three-time author.
The pair shares three homes in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco with a collective property value estimation of $5.8 million, according to Forbes.
Stephanie is a reporter for Yahoo Money and Cashay, a new personal finance website. Follow her on Twitter @SJAsymkos.
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