How Tim Walz’s Personal Finances Compare to JD Vance and Other Politicians

As vice president, Walz would earn $284,600, a significant raise.

According to property records, the Walzes sold their home in Mankato, Minnesota, after he became governor in 2019. They then moved to the Minnesota governor’s mansion in St. Paul and currently live in the house that normally serves as the president of the University of Minnesota while the governor’s mansion is being remodeled.

He is one of the less well-off vice presidential candidates, said Allan Lichtman, a history professor at American University, but that is not unusual in history. Hubert Humphrey, a college professor and radio commentator turned career politician, was not a wealthy man when he became vice president under Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, Lichtman said.

At the other end of the spectrum is Dick Cheney He was CEO of energy giant Halliburton when he was selected as George W. Bush’s vice presidential candidate in the 2000 election, and had an estimated net worth of more than $50 million when he took office. John Edwards, who worked as a trial lawyer in North Carolina before being elected to the Senate in 1998, reported a net worth of between $12 million and $60 million before becoming John F. Kerry’s vice presidential candidate in 2004.

Walz’s financial portfolio makes him by far the least well-off candidate in this year’s general election across both major political parties — in part because, unlike many previous candidates for national office, he is not a lawyer and has not written a best-seller.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, released tax returns from her 2020 presidential campaign that show she and her husband Doug Emhoff, both lawyers, reported a combined income of more than $1.8 million in 2018. Forbes estimated their net worth at about $8 million. Former president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has built his image around his success in real estate and branding.

Walz sought to create a contrast between his choices and those of Vance, who, Walz noted, chose to attend Yale University and work in Silicon Valley.

Spokespeople for Vance and Walz did not respond to requests for comment.

Vance grew up poor in southern Ohio but rose to fame with a bestselling book he wrote about his childhood, “Hillbilly Elegy,” and the Netflix film based on the book, directed by Ron Howard. He also worked as a public speaker and at venture capital firms before being elected a U.S. senator in 2022.

On his 2022 personal financial disclosure form that he filed as a senator, Vance reported having more than 150 assets, including multiple startup investments. The total assets ranged from about $4.3 million to $10.8 million, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. He also reported investment income of about $1 million in 2022, according to the form.

Vance and his wife Usha, who met at Yale Law School, are the owners Northern Virginia home they bought last year for $1.6 million, according to property records. They reported owning A townhouse in DC that they were renting for between $15,000 and $50,000 in 2022.

Although his book was published in 2016, Vance reported earning more than $121,000 in royalties from sales of “Hillbilly Elegy” in 2022 — more than Walz’s salary as governor that year. The book has returned to the bestseller list in recent weeks following Vance’s selection as Trump’s vice presidential running mate.

Vance invested dozens of dollars in startups during brief stints at venture-capital firms: first at Silicon Valley-based Mithril Capital Management, the firm of Republican donor Peter Thiel, and then at Washington-based Revolution.

Vance started his own investment firm, Narya Capital Management, in 2019 after returning to Ohio. He received a $110,000 salary from the firm in 2022, the year he won his Senate seat, bringing his total non-investment income that year to more than $230,000.

“It’s not exceptionally wealthy today,” Lichtman said. “It may have been exceptionally wealthy in the 1950s, but today it’s a more moderate level of wealth.”

Walz stands out among Democratic vice presidential candidates in recent years in that many of them, including Harris, Edwards, Joe Biden, Tim Kaine and Al Gore, were former lawyers and U.S. senators.

Biden and Kaine had net worths of less than $1 million when they ran for vice president.

Senators, including vice presidential candidates, have become increasingly wealthy in recent decades, says Don Ritchie, retired historian of the U.S. Senate.

“In the past, senators were rising up the ranks,” Ritchie said. “Today, most senators are quite wealthy. They have to be to run for office in this day and age. They come to office with a solid portfolio.”

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