But if the couple was broke as they walked out of the White House, it took very little time to recover financially. In 2001, Bill made $13 million in speaking fees, and Hillary brought in nearly $2.5 million, presumably from her advance for "Living History." By 2004, the debt was erased.
We looked at Bill Clinton's 1998 financial disclosure and expanded the details on the Clintons' financial life (as best as we can glean it). As the years have passed, the Clintons' finances have become more sophisticated. After Clinton left office, a staffer to the former president noticed that Bill Clinton "was keeping a balance of a million dollars in an ordinary checking account," as we reported at the time. By 2006, Clinton owned an investment company called WJC International Investments Gp., LLC, according to the filings.
There are four categories in the tables and charts below.
- Income. Money Bill and Hillary earned through salary, interest, real estate, or other sources. This all comes from the 1040 filings Hillary submitted as senator. We've broken out the income the pair earned from books and speaking fees.
- Assets. The Clintons have owned stock, savings bonds, bank accounts and life insurance policies (that have a cash value) like many other Americans. They've also had large deposit accounts and blind trusts, a financial vehicle that prevents an elected official from knowing what his or her investments are.
- Debt. Hillary Clinton made the claim that the pair was broke based largely on the large legal debt they carried from the Lewinsky and Whitewater investigations.
- Estimated net worth. It's important to note that the disclosure forms give values in ranges. So in each of the charts below, the dark colored section of the bar is the range of possible values for assets, debts and net worth. The net worth range is simply the lowest and highest possible values of the Clintons' wealth, once the debts are subtracted from the assets.
1998
Even at the outset of the Lewinsky scandal, the Clintons' legal bills had started to mount. The disclosure document (which is all that was available on the CRP site) indicates that the couple accepted a $2.6 million gift from the Clinton Legal Expense Trust, which helped pay down those costs.
| Type | Category | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Trusts | $50,000 to $1,100,000 |
| Other | $99,000 to $2,910,000 | |
| Debt | Legal | $2,350,000 to $10,750,000 |
| Other | $0 | |
| Net worth | -$10,601,000 to $1,660,000 |
2000
Not included in the data below are ongoing receipts from sales of Hillary Clinton's book "It Takes a Village," which were donated to charity each year.
| Type | Category | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Income | Wages | $199,573 |
| Books (Hillary) | $0 | |
| Books (Bill) | $0 | |
| Speaking (Bill) | $0 | |
| Real estate | $0 | |
| Pension | $0 | |
| Other | $149,522 | |
| Assets | Trusts | $650,000 to $1,350,000 |
| Other | $129,000 to $411,000 | |
| Debt | Legal | $2,280,000 to $10,600,000 |
| Other | $0 | |
| Net worth | -$9,821,000 to -$519,000 |
2001
In 2001, Hillary Clinton started getting income from her book "Living History." Bill Clinton hit the speaking circuit, and began collecting his government pension.
Remember, the spike in net worth is only a range.
| Type | Category | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Income | Wages | $154,952 |
| Books (Hillary) | $2,648,834 | |
| Books (Bill) | $0 | |
| Speaking (Bill) | $13,019,450 | |
| Real estate | $0 | |
| Pension | $152,750 | |
| Other | $189,124 | |
| Assets | Trusts | $1,000,000 to $5,000,000 |
| Other | $5,064,000 to $25,262,000 | |
| Debt | Legal | $1,300,000 to $5,600,000 |
| Other | $0 | |
| Net worth | $464,000 to $28,962,000 |
2002
The legal fees increased slightly in 2002 because, as a note indicates, one law firm found invoices from 1998 that it had never provided to the Clintons.
| Type | Category | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Income | Wages | $150,159 |
| Books (Hillary) | $798,703 | |
| Books (Bill) | $0 | |
| Speaking (Bill) | $8,378,398 | |
| Real estate | $0 | |
| Pension | $166,700 | |
| Other | $102,540 | |
| Assets | Trusts | $1,000,000 to $5,000,000 |
| Other | $1,050,000 to $5,227,000 | |
| Debt | Legal | $1,700,000 to $6,500,000 |
| Other | $0 | |
| Net worth | -$4,450,000 to $8,527,000 |
2003
While the Clintons reported continued legal debt, there's an important note in the 2003 disclosure: Two of the three firms still owed money had been fully repaid by year's end.
| Type | Category | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Income | Wages | $655,942 |
| Books (Hillary) | $1,853,810 | |
| Books (Bill) | $0 | |
| Speaking (Bill) | $4,310,314 | |
| Real estate | $1,000,000 | |
| Pension | $171,900 | |
| Other | $41,408 | |
| Assets | Trusts | $1,000,000 to $5,000,000 |
| Other | $1,031,000 to $5,115,000 | |
| Debt | Legal | $1,600,000 to $6,250,000 |
| Other | $0 | |
| Net worth | -$4,219,000 to $8,515,000 |
2004
The legal debt is gone. Thanks largely to Bill Clinton's continued efforts on the speaking circuit, the Clintons no longer have any significant debt.
| Type | Category | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Income | Wages | $158,100 |
| Books (Hillary) | $2,236,750 | |
| Books (Bill) | $0 | |
| Speaking (Bill) | $13,453,014 | |
| Real estate | $3,981,258 | |
| Pension | $175,700 | |
| Other | $259,897 | |
| Assets | Trusts | $5,000,000 to $25,000,000 |
| Other | $5,045,000 to $25,151,000 | |
| Debt | Legal | $0 |
| Other | $0 | |
| Net worth | $10,045,000 to $50,151,000 |
2005
The debt that reappears in 2005 is credit card debt.
| Type | Category | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Income | Wages | $144,766 |
| Books (Hillary) | $875,556 | |
| Books (Bill) | $0 | |
| Speaking (Bill) | $11,449,824 | |
| Real estate | $5,046,870 | |
| Pension | $180,100 | |
| Other | $596,819 | |
| Assets | Trusts | $5,000,000 to $25,000,000 |
| Other | $5,095,000 to $25,250,000 | |
| Debt | Legal | $0 |
| Other | $15,000 to $50,000 | |
| Net worth | $10,045,000 to $50,235,000 |
2006
In 2006, Hillary Clinton's blind trust is unblinded to comply with rules surrounding her bid for the presidency.
| Type | Category | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Income | Wages | $150,321 |
| Books (Hillary) | $430,529 | |
| Books (Bill) | $2,839,686 | |
| Speaking (Bill) | $8,982,901 | |
| Real estate | $2,577,971 | |
| Pension | $183,500 | |
| Other | $899,000 | |
| Assets | Trusts | $0 to $0 |
| Other | $16,810,000 to $52,450,000 | |
| Debt | Legal | $0 to $0 |
| Other | $15,000 to $50,000 | |
| Net worth | $16,760,000 to $52,435,000 |
Our thanks to Selina Davis, who pointed out an error in how we were calculating net worth totals.