Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), an outspoken critic of the Republican tax reform plan for including gifts to the wealthy, is one of the wealthy himself. A review of his finances shows he has done darn well in his 36-year Congressional career.
When he first ran for the House of Representatives in 1980 at the age of 31, he had been earning a modest living teaching gerontology and serving as co-director of the Oregon chapter of the Gray Panthers, a senior advocacy group.
He served in the House from 1981 to 1996, then won a seat in the Senate, where he has served since 1996. In other words, he has spent almost his entire his adult life in Congress.
By 2005, Wyden’s net worth was estimated at $4,929,507 by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), a non-profit, nonpartisan research group based in Washington, D.C., that tracks the effects of money and lobbying on elections and public policy.
That same year, he married Nancy Bass, a wealthy co-owner of the well-known Strand Book Store in New York City.
By 2010, CRP estimated Wyden’s net worth at $6,847,018.
By 2015, Wyden was the 18th wealthiest Senator, with an estimated net worth of $13,070,041, according to the CRP.
When members of Congress file their annual personal financial reports, they’re allowed to list the value of their assets and liabilities in broad ranges,” according to CRP. “In practical terms, that obscures exactly how much each member of Congress is worth. And the larger the value of the asset, the broader the allowable range.
To account for those ranges, CRP’s researchers establish a minimum and maximum net worth, and then use the average as an estimated net worth for each member of Congress.”
Other than his Strand assets, Wyden’s 10 largest assets held for investment or the production of income were:
Asset Minimum Value Maximum Value
| Edith Wyden Trust FBO Ronald L Wyden Trust [Amended Report] | Brokerage, IRA, 401k | $500,001 | $1,000,000 |
| DFA US Large Company I [Amended Report] | Mutual Fund | $500,001 | $1,000,000 |
| Oregon College Savings Plan Age 5-8 Age Based Port [Amended Report] | Brokerage, IRA, 401k | $200,002 | $500,000 |
| Oregon College Savings Plan [Amended Report] | Brokerage, IRA, 401k | $200,002 | $500,000 |
| Merrill Lynch Deposit Program [Amended Report] | Cash/Money Market/Savings/Checking | $250,001 | $500,000 |
| Fidelity Investment Cash Brokerage Account [Amended Report] | Brokerage, IRA, 401k | $250,001 | $500,000 |
| American Funds Europacific Growth Fund [Amended Report] | Mutual Fund | $250,001 | $500,000 |
| US Senate FCU Money Market Account [Amended Report] | Cash/Money Market/Savings/Checking | $100,001 | $250,000 |
| US Savings Bond Series [Amended Report] | Government Bond | $100,001 | $250,000 |
| TIAA/CREF IRA Cash Accounts [Amended Report] | Cash/Money Market/Savings/Checking | $100,001 | $250,000 |
Source: OpenSecrets.org
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