Claire McCaskill Net Worth

What is Claire McCaskill's Net Worth?

Claire McCaskill is an American politician and lawyer who has a net worth of $60 million. A member of the Democratic Party, Claire McCaskill served as a United States senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019, and before that was the state auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007. After leaving the Senate, she became a political analyst for MSNBC and NBC News.

Financial Disclosures

Because congressional financial disclosures list assets and debts in broad value ranges rather than exact amounts, estimates of Claire McCaskill's wealth have varied considerably. OpenSecrets estimated that McCaskill and her husband, real estate developer Joseph Shepard, had a combined net worth of more than $60 million based on their 2015 disclosures. That estimate made McCaskill the fifth-richest member of the U.S. Senate at the time.

Other analyses produced more conservative figures. Based on the minimum value assigned to each disclosed asset, Roll Call estimated the couple's net worth at $26.9 million in 2018, ranking McCaskill as the 24th-richest member of Congress. Another analysis of their 2017 disclosure placed their combined net worth between $31 million and $37.5 million. Their only significant disclosed liability in the Roll Call calculation was a $50,000 bank line of credit.

The majority of the couple's disclosed wealth belonged to Shepard, who established a successful career investing in and developing real estate before marrying McCaskill in 2002. Her 2017 financial disclosure identified Shepard as a limited partner in nearly 300 affordable-housing projects across several states. Those investments generated between $365,374 and $1.1 million in income during 2017.

The disclosures also showed that Shepard invested at least $1 million in Matrix Capital Management, a hedge fund organized in the Cayman Islands. The investment generated between $230,000 and $2.1 million in income over the period covered by McCaskill's filings. McCaskill and Shepard filed separate tax returns, and her representatives said she was not involved in managing his investments.

Early Life and Education

Claire McCaskill was born on July 24, 1953 in Rolla, Missouri to Betty and William. Her mother was the first woman to be elected to the city council of Columbia, Missouri, and her father served as a state insurance commissioner under governor Warren E. Hearnes. McCaskill grew up around Missouri in the cities of Houston, Lebanon, and finally Columbia. In the latter, she attended David Henry Hickman High School, where her myriad extracurricular activities included cheerleading, debate, and musical theater. McCaskill went on to attend the University of Missouri, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1975. During the summer before her graduation, she studied at Georgetown University. McCaskill pursued graduate studies at the University of Missouri School of Law, from which she obtained her Juris Doctor in 1978.

Law Career

After earning her JD, McCaskill entered public law. She remained in public service until 2019, spending just three years in private practice as an attorney in Kansas City from 1989 to 1991. McCaskill's public positions included law clerk on the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District and member of the prosecutor's office for Jackson County.

Political Career, 1982-2006

In 1982, McCaskill was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives for the Brookside neighborhood of Kansas City. She remained in the State House until 1988. In 1990, McCaskill was elected to the Jackson County Legislature, and in 1992 she became prosecutor of Jackson County. She was reelected as prosecutor in 1996 by a wide margin. McCaskill went on to be elected as state auditor of Missouri in 1998; she won reelection in 2002. In 2004, she ran for governor of Missouri and defeated incumbent Bob Holden in the Democratic primary, making her the first candidate in state history to defeat an incumbent governor in a primary. However, McCaskill lost to her Republican opponent Matt Blunt in the general election, marking her first career defeat.

US Senator, 2006-2019

In 2006, McCaskill was elected to the US Senate after defeating Republican Jim Talent in the general election. She became the first elected woman to represent Missouri in the US Senate. McCaskill won reelection in 2012, and served in the Senate until she was defeated by Republican Josh Hawley in the 2018 election. During her tenure as a US senator, McCaskill was known to be a moderate. She voted for the DREAM Act in 2010, introduced the successful Victims Protection Act in 2014, and introduced the Health Care Options for All Act in 2017. However, McCaskill opposed universal healthcare and co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act.

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Political Analyst

After leaving the Senate in early 2019, McCaskill became a political analyst for MSNBC and NBC News. She became a regular guest on "Deadline: White House" and "Morning Joe," and also began appearing on such programs as "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" and "The 11th Hour with Brian Williams."

Controversies

McCaskill has been a subject of some controversies over the years. In 2011, it was revealed that her office had used taxpayer dollars to fund her use of a private airplane, which she frequently flew between Washington, DC and various places in Missouri. McCaskill consequently reimbursed the US Treasury and ended up selling the plane. Later, in 2017, she got into more trouble when she falsely stated she had never met with Russian government officials, which was debunked by tweets she had previously sent mentioning such meetings.

Personal Life

McCaskill wed her first husband, David Exposito, in 1984. They had three children before divorcing in 1995. In 2002, McCaskill married Joseph Shepard. She has homes in suburban Kirkwood, Missouri and Washington, DC.

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