The U.S. election is in full swing, and it's hard to say who will win either Biden or Trump, and after the first televised debate, former U.S. President Barack Obama publicly expressed his support for Biden.
Obama is also the more active president of the United States after leaving office, who is better in life and investment between him and Trump?
President of the "house slave".
Obama has a nickname for the "house slave" president, what is going on?
Obama was an inspirational president of the United States who had a difficult life as a child and was raised by his ailing mother. After graduating from college, Obama worked as a "mediator" in the community, using his modest income to support himself through his Harvard J.D. and become a lawyer. According to reports, Obama earns around $174,000 a year as a lawyer.
Obama also writes and publishes, and as of 2008, Obama had $10 million in assets. However, after Obama succeeded in becoming president of the United States, his income was much less.
In 2012, the White House announced that the total assets of the Obama couple were between $2.6 million and $8.3 million, and in 2013, Obama declared assets of $1.85 million to $6.88 million, of which $1 million to $5 million were medium-term U.S. public debt.
This money is significantly less than what he earned when he was a lawyer. But Obama is still one of America's richest people. How does Obama make money in addition to his $400,000 annual presidential salary?
Obama's way of making money was simple: buying a house to invest in, buying U.S. Treasuries and bonds, and publishing books. After he leaves the presidency, Obama and his wife will continue to make money from speeches.
According to reports, Obama has a mortgage in Chicago that had a market value of about $50 to $1 million in 2012, and the loan amount was $50 to $1 million, which will take about 30 years to pay off.
He also has a property in Illinois, but it was still in the repayment stage in 2013, with a loan amount of about $50 to $1 million.
In 2015, U.S. media reported that Mr. Obama had spent $8.7 million on a villa in Hawaii. Originally built in 1933, this villa covers an area of about 12,000 square meters, with 5 bedrooms and bathrooms, as well as tennis courts, beaches and other facilities, which were once used to film a detective film.
In 2017, Obama did not leave Washington after leaving office, and they rented a four-story mansion of about 762 square meters for $22,000 a month in the wealthy district of Washington, the Karlorama district, which was valued at $4.3 million at the time. The house has a total of 9 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms, which is more imposing than the White House.
At the end of 2019, US media reported that Obama bought a mansion on Martha's Vineyard Island in Massachusetts for $11.75 million. This mansion has 7 bedrooms, a private sundeck, a large garden, a swimming pool, a boathouse, a private beach, and much more, with a total plot of about 650 square meters.
In 2022, Florida chartered a plane to send more than 50 migrants to Martha's Vineyard, and local residents asked Obama to open their mansions to accommodate them. However, the migrants were housed at a U.S. military base on the Cape Cod Peninsula.
Obama has a lot of real estate, almost all of which are purchased with loans, which is why he is called the "house slave president."
Although Obama took out a loan to buy a house, he was not short of money.
Obama's presidential pension is $200,000 a year, and he earned $400,000 in his first speech after leaving office. In 2017, Mr. and Mrs. Obama signed a $60 million book deal with Penguin Langdon.
In addition to buying a house, buying Treasury bonds, and publishing books and speeches, Obama also bought cars.
His special car, Army One, is worth $1.5 million and is known as the beast-class car, and there are only 12 of them in the world. Not only can it be bulletproof and resist enemy attacks, but the car is also equipped with an urgent linkage and some automatic weapons, as well as an advanced digital imaging system and medical equipment such as oxygen supply and first aid.
However, no matter how arrogant Obama is, he is no more arrogant than Trump, how arrogant is this businessman-turned-American president?
"Plutocratic" president
The White House is a symbol of the status of the president of the United States, and it is a proud thing for Americans to be able to live in the White House, but for Trump, the White House is the "smallest house he has ever lived."
Back then, after Trump became president of the United States, he picked on the White House, believing that the White House facilities were too old and simple, and he spent nearly $3.4 million out of his own pocket to redesign and renovate the White House.
Trump prefers to take out a loan to buy a house than Obama, who prefers to take it directly.
Trump's vacation home in Palm Cove, Florida, is about 80,000 square meters, with 58 bedrooms and 33 bathrooms, as well as 29 fireplaces.
Trump has said his penthouse at Trump Tower is 3,066 square meters.
In addition, after Trump left office, he took the "Air Force One" to Florida, where he owns a "Mar-a-Lago estate", covering a total area of 80,000 square meters, with 126 rooms, a manor, a golf course, conference rooms and other facilities.
Mar-a-Lago was bought by Trump in 1985 for nearly $8 million, and after Trump became president of the United States, it became known as the "Winter White House."
Trump seems to prefer buying a car to buying one.
He collected a first-generation Silver Cloud model produced in 1955-1958, with only 2,238 units worldwide and a market value of about $2 million. In 2013, the 1962 Yinyun was exhibited at the auto show in Guangzhou, China, and the auction reserve price was 15 million yuan.
Mr. Trump also has a collection of Cadillac's 1987 two-seater, two-seater, two-door convertible, Allante, which sold for $57,000 and has only 6,000 units worldwide.
He also owns the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, known as the "F1 on the road", the must-have Rolls-Royce Phantom, the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible and the Maybach 62.
In addition to luxury cars, Trump will also buy yachts and airplanes.
U.S. media reported in 2016 that Trump has more than 500 companies in about 25 countries around the world, not only in the United States, South Korea, Turkey, but also in Uruguay, Indonesia, Bali, India, etc.
At the end of March 2024, Trump's "Trump Media Technology Group" was listed on the NASDAQ, and it was this move that made Trump's worth skyrocket by more than $50 billion.
Trump's investments span many sectors, which is why he ranks among the top 500 richest people in the world. However, Trump is currently facing financial fraud and other violations, and is required to pay $454 million in fines and interest.
In general, Trump is more in tune with being a businessman than Obama. Now that the U.S. election is imminent, who can win this game between Trump and Biden is not enough to look at financial estimates, but also to think about the people.
Resources:
[1] People's Information, "The Outgoing U.S. President's Housing PK: Trump is the Richest Strongest, Carter is the Poorest, and Obama Rents a Villa" 20210124
[2] Observer.com, "Florida charters plane to send migrants to Rich Island, local residents call on Obama to open up mansion resettlement" 20220917
[3] Minzhi International Research Institute, "Does Trump Still Have Money? 》 20240409