©2024 The News Service of Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ net worth increased by more than 50 percent last year as he embarked on a presidential run and boosted his bank account with book sales.
DeSantis had a net worth of $1,773,157 as of Dec. 31, up from $1,174,331 a year earlier, according to a financial disclosure report posted Friday on the Florida Commission on Ethics website.
DeSantis’ finances have received a jolt from his 2023 book, “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival.”
DeSantis received $625,500 in 2023 from HarperCollins Publishers LLC, which paid him $1.25 million in 2022.
He also received $160,000 in 2023 from Premiere Collectibles Books, which offers signed copies of the book for $35 or in a “deluxe collector set” for $50.
The book debuted as a best seller on The New York Times and Amazon lists when released in February 2023.
State elected officials each year are required to file financial disclosure forms by July 1 that list income, assets and liabilities.
Generally, the forms show financial information from the end of the previous year.
Before the book deal, DeSantis posted a net worth of $318,986 in 2021.
In addition to income from the book, DeSantis’ new report shows increases in checking and savings accounts.
At the end of 2023, DeSantis had $351,078 in USAA checking and savings accounts; nearly $1.26 million in a savings account with Interactive Brokers; $95,592 in a thrift savings plan, a type of retirement savings and investment plan; and $84,196 in the Florida Retirement System.
A year earlier, he listed $1.046 million in USAA accounts, $91,719 in the thrift savings plan and $54,720 in the Florida Retirement System.
As he and his family live in the governor’s mansion, DeSantis did not report real-estate holdings in 2023.
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