Politifact posted an analysis on its website on February 3 of this year in which it estimated that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D.-Calif.) net worth, based on her 2018 financial disclosure form, was somewhere between $34 million and $160 million.
Politifact pointed out that the average of this range was $97 million.
Politifact did the estimate of Pelosi’s net worth to refute a posting on Facebook that Politifact said had falsely said that Pelosi’s net worth was $196 million.
The headline on the Politifact analysis is: “No, Nancy Pelosi’s net worth is not $196 million.”
“The $196 million figure is likely too high,” said Politifact, summarizing its findings. “Congressional disclosure forms don’t provide a precise number, but the midpoint of estimates produces a net worth for Pelosi of $97 million, which is a fraction of the number claimed in the meme.”
“The post said Pelosi’s net worth is $196,299,990,” said Politifact.
“That’s not accurate,” said Politifact. “Net worth is defined as assets minus liabilities. Congressional disclosure forms don’t provide a precise number, but the midpoint of [sic] produces a net worth for Pelosi of $97 million, which is a fraction of the number claimed in the meme. And the bulk of that has come from decades of investment activity by her husband—not because of corruption, as the meme implies.
“We rate the statement as False,” concluded Politifact.
Politifact explained its analysis as follows:
“The disclosure forms that all members of Congress must file lists their assets and liabilities, such as mortgages. Both categories are listed in broad ranges — a minimum and a maximum for each asset and liability in their portfolio — and they include the holdings of both the members of Congress as well as their spouses, if any.
“The maximum amount of the range for Pelosi was about $257 million in assets and $97 million in liabilities, which produces a maximum net worth of nearly $160 million.
“If you use the minimum in the reported range instead, the numbers are $54 million in assets and $20 million in liabilities, for a net worth of about $34 million.
“Either of those figure falls short of the $196 million in the meme. Averaging the maximum and minimum values as a back-of-the-envelope estimates [sic] of the couple’s net worth produces a figure of $97 million, almost exactly half of the amount claimed in the meme.
“Another way of calculating Pelosi’s net worth would exceed $196 million.
“Taking the lowest figure for liabilities and the highest figure for assets would subtract $20 million in liabilities from $257 million in assets, yielding a net worth of $237 million, which is higher than what the post says.
“The $196,299,990 figure in the meme dates back in conservative media to at least 2011, and it may have been an accurate reflection of Pelosi’s assets back then, without liabilities subtracted.”
Politifact says on its website that it “is a nonpartisan fact-checking website to sort out the truth in American politics. PolitiFact was created by the Tampa Bay Times, a Florida newspaper, in 2007. In 2018, PolitiFact was acquired by the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit school for journalists.”