Elizabeth Warren is one of the most prominent and influential politicians in the United States. She is currently serving as the senator from Massachusetts and was a leading contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. She is also known for her outspoken advocacy for consumer protection, economic justice, and progressive reforms.
But how did Elizabeth Warren make her money? What is her net worth and how did she accumulate it? In this blog post, we will explore the sources of Elizabeth Warren’s wealth and how she rose from a humble background to become one of the richest senators in the country.
Elizabeth Warren’s Early Life and Education
Elizabeth Warren was born as Elizabeth Herring on June 22, 1949, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She grew up in a lower-middle-class family that struggled financially after her father suffered a heart attack and lost his job as a maintenance man. Warren began working as a waitress at age 13 to help her family make ends meet.
Warren was a bright and ambitious student who excelled in debate and won a scholarship to attend George Washington University in Washington, D.C. However, she dropped out after two years to marry her high school sweetheart, Jim Warren, a mathematician. They moved to Texas, where Warren earned a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology from the University of Houston in 1970.
Warren worked as a special education teacher for a few years before deciding to pursue a law degree. She enrolled at Rutgers University in New Jersey and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1976. She then practiced law from her home while raising her two children, Amelia and Alexander. She divorced Jim Warren in 1978 and married Bruce Mann, a Harvard law professor, in 1980.
Elizabeth Warren’s Academic Career and Expertise
Elizabeth Warren’s career as a law professor spanned more than three decades and took her to several prestigious institutions. She started as a lecturer at Rutgers University in 1977 and then moved to the University of Houston Law Center in 1978, where she became an associate dean in 1980 and obtained tenure in 1981. She then taught at the University of Texas School of Law from 1981 to 1987, the University of Michigan Law School from 1987 to 1992, the University of Pennsylvania Law School from 1992 to 1995, and Harvard Law School from 1995 to 2012.
Warren specialized in bankruptcy law and became an expert on the economic and legal issues affecting middle-class Americans. She conducted extensive research on the causes and consequences of personal and corporate bankruptcy, consumer debt, credit cards, mortgages, and financial regulation. She also served as a consultant, advisor, and expert witness for various government agencies, courts, and commissions.
Warren published several books and articles based on her academic work, including The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt (2000), The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke (2003), and A Fighting Chance (2014). She also co-authored several textbooks and casebooks on bankruptcy and commercial law.
Elizabeth Warren’s Political Career and Achievements
Elizabeth Warren’s political career began in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, when she was appointed as the chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the federal bailout program for banks and corporations. She oversaw the implementation and evaluation of the program and issued regular reports and recommendations to Congress and the public.
In 2010, Warren was tapped by President Barack Obama to help establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a new federal agency created by the Dodd-Frank Act to protect consumers from unfair and abusive practices by financial institutions. She served as a special advisor to the president and the secretary of the treasury and played a key role in setting up the structure, mission, and policies of the CFPB.
In 2012, Warren decided to run for the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, challenging the incumbent Republican senator Scott Brown. She won the election with 54% of the vote, becoming the first woman to represent Massachusetts in the Senate. She was re-elected in 2018 with 60% of the vote, defeating the Republican challenger Geoff Diehl.
In the Senate, Warren has been a vocal and influential leader of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. She has championed various causes and legislation related to consumer protection, economic justice, health care, education, climate change, democracy, and foreign policy. She has also been a fierce critic of Wall Street, big corporations, and the wealthy elite, and has advocated for higher taxes, stronger regulations, and more accountability for them.
In 2019, Warren announced her candidacy for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. She ran a competitive and well-funded campaign, with a platform based on her slogan “I have a plan for that”. She proposed bold and comprehensive policies on a wide range of issues, such as Medicare for All, a wealth tax, a Green New Deal, universal child care, student debt cancellation, and anti-corruption reforms. She also emphasized her personal story and her vision of “big, structural change” for the country.
However, Warren faced several challenges and setbacks during the campaign, such as questions about her electability, her Native American ancestry, her health care plan, and her relationship with other candidates. She also struggled to gain traction and support among voters of color, moderates, and working-class people. She failed to win any of the first four primary contests and only won her home state of Massachusetts on Super Tuesday. She dropped out of the race on March 5, 2020, and endorsed Joe Biden on April 15, 2020.
Elizabeth Warren’s Net Worth and Sources of Income
According to various estimates, Elizabeth Warren’s net worth is between $7 million and $12 million, making her one of the richest senators in the country. However, she is far from being the wealthiest politician in the U.S., as she ranks below many of her colleagues and rivals, such as Bernie Sanders, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, and Michael Bloomberg.
Warren’s main sources of income are her salary as a senator, which is $174,000 per year, and her royalties from her books, which have earned her millions of dollars over the years. She also has a substantial amount of assets and investments, including retirement accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and real estate properties. She owns two homes, one in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and one in Washington, D.C., which are worth around $4 million each.
Warren has been transparent and consistent about her finances and taxes, as she has released 11 years of her tax returns and disclosed her net worth and income in detail. She has also been a strong advocate for tax reform and fairness, as she has proposed a 2% annual tax on households with a net worth of more than $50 million and a 3% tax on those with more than $1 billion. She has also pledged to donate her salary to charity during the government shutdowns and the coronavirus pandemic.
Conclusion: Elizabeth Warren’s Money and Values
Elizabeth Warren’s money and wealth are the result of her hard work, education, expertise, and success in various fields and endeavors. She has made her money through her academic career, her book deals, her political career, and her smart investments. She has also been responsible and generous with her money, as she has paid her taxes, donated to charity, and supported various causes and organizations.
However, Warren’s money and wealth are not the most important or defining aspects of her life and identity. She has always been motivated and guided by her values and principles, such as fairness, justice, opportunity, and democracy. She has always fought for the rights and interests of the people, especially the middle class, the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed. She has always challenged and confronted the power and privilege of the rich, the corrupt, the greedy, and the dishonest.
Elizabeth Warren is not just a wealthy politician. She is a leader, a fighter, a teacher, a mother, a grandmother, and a role model. She is a woman who has made her money, but has not let her money make her. She is a woman who has a plan for everything, but also has a heart for everyone. She is a woman who has a lot of money, but also has a lot of courage.
