Ted Cruz Net Worth

A candidate’s policy positions are a very important part of deciding whether or not to vote for them. To some people, the policy positions are the only important issue.

On the other side, some people take the view that the only thing that matters is a candidate’s background and qualifications. Sometimes looking at a candidate’s net worth can give some insight into both of these things. How did the candidate make their money? Is that relevant? How might the candidate’s self-interest impact their policy positions? There’s always some distance between what a candidate says they believe and how they actually govern. You can often judge their self-interest from their net worth and background. From there you might be able to get some insight at how they would run the country.

Ted Cruz graduated from Harvard Law. He worked as a clerk for William Rehnquist after school. He briefly worked in a private law practice from 1997 to 1998. He was the youngest solicitor general of Texas for 5 years. He then returned to private practice. In 2012 he was elected to the US Senate representing Texas.

Ted Cruz’s Net Worth

Age: 44
Occupation: Lawyer
Most Money Made In: Law
Estimated Net Worth as of 2015: 2.5 Million

Ted Cruz has managed to transform his high-earning profession into a substantial net worth. This has allowed him to acquire an array of different sorts of assets. He’s successfully escaped a high-earn high-spend treadmill that plagues many high income americans. In doing so he’s set aside enough money to support a modest lifestyle indefinitely.

Ted Cruz’s Net Worth is given by his financial disclosure. His personal financial disclosure was taken from the Center for Responsive politics’ webpage. The disclosure itself is quite interesting. Ted Cruz owns several Goldman Sach’s funds. He also has substantial positions in a few oil companies, including Chevron and Exxon Mobil (possibly as much as 10% of his net worth). He additionally has two 529 plans for his children. He has also loaned at least a half million dollars to the Cruz for Senate campaign. This position hasn’t payed substantial interest.

His incentives are mostly aligned with the upper middle class and the wealthy. The upper middle class makes extensive use of tax shelters which aligns with Ted’s personal motives. Ted Cruz’s pensions and social security likely represent a small portion of his net worth, he therefore doesn’t have much monetary incentive to protect such things (though he may feel morally compelled to). Here is an example of a way his wealth might incentivize him to vote.

One recent proposal has been to eliminate tax shelters such as 529 plans. Ted Cruz holds hundreds of thousands of dollars in such plans. That doesn’t necessarily mean he wouldn’t support their removal, or if he opposes it that he does so out of greed. It’s just that the negative effects of a thing are easier to envision and empathize with others about when you have to experience them yourself.

What do you think about his net worth? How does it affect the way he (may) govern?