Kamala Harris is richer than Joe Biden (and sells a lot more books) | International

Joe Biden is her boss, but Kamala Harris is apparently richer and her books are much more successful. The White House has published this Friday the statements of assets and income of the president and vice president of the United States. Although the reports are not very precise, the conclusion is that Harris has a much higher financial net worth and also a higher income regardless of her position.

The most accurate data is that referring to income from the sale of books. And Harris is a bestseller next to Biden. The president achieved in the last year just over 29,000 dollars (about 28,000 euros at current exchange rates) for rights to his book Promise me, dad (Promise me, dad), a book published in 2017 and focused on the death of his eldest son, Beau Biden, from a brain tumor. And a minimal amount, less than $201, for royalties from his 2008 book Promises to keep.

Kamala Harris, with more recent books, fared much better. She entered something more than 326,000 dollars with the different editions of The truths we hold, released in 2019. He made another $130,000 with Superheroes are everywhere, his children’s book that same year. In total, about 456,000 dollars.

Harder is drawing conclusions about the wealth of Biden and Harris. The way in which the declarations of assets of the high officials of the White House are made, leaves very wide ranges that make it difficult to calculate what is the patrimony of each one. The amount of bank accounts, investments in funds or pension plans are declared one by one without publishing the figure: what is said is whether it is, for example, between 15,000 and 25,000 dollars, between 25,000 and 50,000, between 50,000 and 100,000, between 100,000 and 250,000, between 250,000 and 500,000 or between 500,000 and one million dollars. An account with $501,000 falls into the same category as one with $999,000. When dozens of accounts are declared, the margin of error in the estimate multiplies.

A mortgage until 2043 for Biden

All in all, and admitting a wide margin of error, Harris declares more accounts and with spreads at higher levels. Biden declares between 700,000 and 1,500,000 dollars in bank accounts and also adds investments for an amount of 195,000 to 650,000 euros. The president of the United States has a mortgage with TD Bank, a US subsidiary of the Canadian financial giant Toronto-Dominion Bank. It is a loan located in a range between 250,000 and 500,000 dollars for which you pay an interest rate of 3.375%. It was signed in 2013 for a term of 30 years, which would be fulfilled in 2043, 101 years after the birth of Biden. Biden has two other non-mortgage loans between $15,000 and $50,000.

Kamala Harris, for her part, has between $750,000 and $1,500,000 in individual accounts and $250,000 to $500,000 in an account with her husband, the successful lawyer Doug Emhoff, who also has a large estate to his name, which exceeds the of the first lady, Jill Biden. Harris also has between $775,000 and $1,850,000 in pension plans and other investments. Harris, however, has a large mortgage, between 1 and 5 million dollars, signed in 2020 with Wells Fargo at 2.625% interest and a term of 7 years for the purchase of her family residence. She had another mortgage for the same amount, but she sold the property and paid off the loan.

The size of that mortgage (with such a wide range) and the fact that the asset declarations do not include real estate assets mean that any conclusion about the wealth or net worth of the president and his vice president must be taken with caution.

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