Barack Obama Net Worth in 2018 – How Rich Is The President?

When it comes to the history of net worth of US presidents, Barack Obama comes in right in the middle of the pack. The richest president ever was George Washington, who would have been worth about half a billion in today’s money. Thomas Jefferson and John F. Kennedy were very rich also, and some estimates say that JFK may have been worth a billion dollars in today’s money. At the other end of the spectrum, some of the US presidents never had very much money at all considering the prestige of their positions. Harry S. Truman, Woodrow Wilson, and Abraham Lincoln all did not become millionaires, adjusting for inflation to today’s dollar. Of course, nearly all the presidents have made their money from business interests outside of their presidential salary. Today, presidents don’t receive lavish salaries at all, and are paid less than even the lowest paid NBA or NHL players. These have included real estate, investments, book deals and autobiographies, and being paid for speaking engagements. This is true of Obama, who actually made most of his money writing books. Let’s take a look at how the forty forth president of the United States and most popular person in the world amassed his considerable net worth.

Barack Obama Net Worth 2018 – $12.2 Million

How Did Barack Obama Make His Money And Wealth?

Barack Hussein Obama II was born on August 4th 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, making him the first president to be born in Hawaii. His mother was of a mostly English background, and his father was Kenyan. Obama’s parents divorced in 1982 and then his dad moved back to Kenya. Eleven years later, when Barack Obama was twenty one years of age, his father was killed in a car crash. From ages six until ten, Obama lived in Indonesia with his mother, but they would later return to Hawaii in 1971. Back in Hawaii, Obama attended Punahou School, an expensive private college prep school, until his graduation. Obama has reflected that Hawaii was a great place for him to grow up because of the mixing of different cultures. He was part of a group of friends that would experiment with drugs including marijuana and cocaine in his teenage years. Upon graduation from high school, he would acquire his postsecondary education. He got a BA from Columbia University in New York, and then a law degree at Harvard.

In 1996, he was elected to the Illinois senate, and focused on health care reform and ethics. He supported tax credits and welfare reform, and he was continuously reelected to the senate in Illinois. His profile rose in the early 2000s, especially after a highly publicized speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, which lead to people beginning to think of him as a future presidential candidate. He was elected to the US senate in 2005, a position he would hold until 2008. In 2008, he successfully campaigned for president, defeating Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries and then John McCain in the general election. This made him the first African American president, and helped him sell millions of copies of his books. In 2012, he defeated Mitt Romney in the general election, becoming the first president to win the majority of the popular vote back to back times since FDR. Obama’s final day as president will be January 20th, 2017, when either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will likely take his place. It is speculated that following his presidency, he will start making more money as he will have time to write more books and give highly-paid speeches, like Bill Clinton has done.

Barack Obama Personal Life And FAQ

Is Barack Obama Married?

In the history of the United States, there have only been two presidents who were not married at the time of their election, and Barack Obama isn’t one of them. Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson met while they were both working at a law firm in Chicago. It is said that they bonded over being two of few African Americans at the law firm at the time, and she served as a mentor to him because she was more experienced. At the beginning, Barack was up front about his interest in Michelle, asking her to go on dates, but she initially declined. For their first date, they watched the Spike Lee Movie “Do The Right Thing.” They were engaged in 1991 and married in 1992, meaning that they have been together for twenty four years now. Barack Obama has written about the struggles of balancing such a busy, stressful career with married life in his popular book, The Audacity of Hope.

Does Barack Obama Have Kids?

Of all the presidents in the history of the United States, only six of them haven’t had kids and Obama isn’t one of these either. Their first daughter, Malia was born on the forth of July in 1998, and their next daughter, Sasha, was born in 2001. The two girls went to the very elite, very expensive Sidwell Friends School, which has educated many children of elite politicians in Washington. Malia Obama made the news recently for announcing that she had been accepted into, and would be attending, Harvard.

Where Did Barack Obama Go To College?

Starting his college education, Barack Obama got a BA from Columbia University in New York in 1983. He moved to Chicago and began work as a community organizer for a group of churches after graduating. In 1988, he attended Harvard. He became an editor of the Harvard Law Review in his first year at the school, and became the president of the journal in his second year. He graduated from Harvard with a doctor of law degree, and became nationally famous for being the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. This would lead to him getting his first book deal. Obama would become a professor after this, teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago for twelve years.

Where Does Barack Obama Live? Picture of Obama’s House

I could be really cheeky here and post a picture of the Whitehouse, but I’ll spare you. But yeah, he lives in the Whitehouse right now. He does have a house in Chicago that has become something of a tourist attraction as the years have passed and he has become possibly the most famous living person. Back in 2005, using the money he had made from selling his books, he bought a house for around a million and a half dollars in Chicago. Before that, he had lived in a condo in Hyde Park. The house, which he still owns and will likely move back into after his presidency, is a mansion in the Georgian revival style. There is an almost constant police present at the house to deter anyone from trying any funny business. Though the Obamas bought the house back in 2005, they are still paying the mortgage for it somehow.

How Much Did Barack Obama Earn Last Year?

The current base salary for a US president is $400 000 a year, plus access to an expense account and numerous other perks. The expense account is worth $150 000, plus he gets a $20 000 entertainment budget, and a $100 000 tax free travel account. One thing that surprises people about US presidents is that they often have to pay for household items, such as toothbrushes and soap at the Whitehouse. Obama made over a million dollars in a year for the first time in 2005. His most profitable year was 2009. He made five and a half million dollars that year, most of it from a huge amount of book sales as the result of his election to the presidency. Obama continues to make $3.75 each time he sells a hardcover book, as well as just over a dollar for each time he sells a paperback.

Barack Obama’s Charity Work And Philanthropy

Barack Obama is a notably charitable president, in some years giving up to 14% of his total income to charities. He has given heavily to Fisher House Foundation, an organization that supports war veterans and their families. Beyond that, he is known to personally support around sixteen charities and as many as thirty causes. In his first year as president, Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for his devotion to humanitarian efforts, and his attempts to improve international relations. He donated all of his prize money from the Nobel Peace Prize to charity, well over a million dollars. Many of the charities that he supports involve under privileged and at risk youth in his home state of Illinois.

Things You May Not Know About Barack Obama

Barack Obama is an avid sports fan, and is known to be a decent basketball player with an acceptable mid range jump shot. He has declared himself to be a fan of the Chicago White Sox, and he threw the first pitch in a playoff baseball game back in 2005. As far as football goes, Obama is a fan of the Chicago Bears.

Obama has a history of trying to quit smoking cigarettes, and has used nicotine replacement therapy at times. He currently does not smoke.