Ben Carson 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 to the Presidency? 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 into what that distance will be.

Ben Carson is a neurosurgeon running for the Republican presidential nomination. He worked as a neurosurgeon for over 20 years. He famously was the first person to successfully separate twins conjoined at the head in 1987. Additionally, he’s been a member of the board of directors for both Kellogg and Costco for over 15 years.

Ben Carson’s Net Worth

Age: 64
Occupation: Surgeon
Most Money Made In: Public Speaking
Estimated Net Worth as of 2015: 10 Million

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How much has Ben Carson made from speaking engagements? He has made more than $1 Million. Over the last year the LLC he uses as a pass through entity for his public speaking engagements earned $1.5 million. These speaking engagements have both made him a substantial amount of money and added to his name recognition. Additionally, Carson has written books which still earn him substantial royalties: America the Beautiful, One Nation, and A More Perfect Union.

Ben Carson’s Net Worth is given by his financial disclosure. His personal financial disclosure was taken from the Center for Responsive politics webpage: opensecrets.org. The disclosure itself is quite revealing. Jeb Bush owns three major types of assets. First, he has a pension set up for himself. This pension holds mostly mutual funds and will pay him out a defined benefit upon retirement. Second, he and his wife have a substantial portion of their net worth invested in real estate. Finally, he owns an assortment of mutual funds in taxable investment accounts.

Ben Carson has a pretty standard set of economic views for a Republican presidential candidate. He wants a flat tax. One idiosyncratic view is that he supports splitting the minimum wage into two tiers, one for young people getting into jobs for the first time, and a second, higher, tier for adult wage earners-supporting a family. He would then index both of these quantities to inflation and leave them alone.

His incentives are mostly aligned with the very rich and the upper middle class. He has earned a great deal of money as earned income using pass through entities such as LLC’s. Here is one way his financial situation may cause him to act. It is possible as part of corporate tax reform that the special treatment that LLC’s and S-corps get compared to C-corps might change or go away (former treasury secretary Timothy Geithner proposed this in 2011). If Carson had to pay corporate income tax as well as a dividend tax this would cost him a great deal of money without benefiting him directly. That doesn’t necessarily mean he wouldn’t support such a thing, 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.

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