RICHMOND — Two wealthy men are running for governor of Virginia, but Republican Glenn A. Youngkin's assets are on a completely different scale than those of Democrat Terry McAuliffe, according to recent financial filings.
correction
A previous version of this article incorrectly reported that Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe had once owned shares of Carlyle stock. McAuliffe maintains a minimal investment in a Carlyle Group private equity fund. This article has been corrected.
Because Virginia’s reporting requirements are so loose, that’s a fraction of Youngkin’s actual net worth, which is probably close to $400 million, judging from other financial documents.
McAuliffe reported assets of between $6.9 million and about $12.8 million. The former governor, who served from 2014 to 2018, has long been a prodigious Democratic fundraiser, but Youngkin’s personal wealth and willingness to spend his own money could make this year’s race the most expensive in Virginia history.
The Republican has already loaned his campaign at least $12 million and said he expects to raise as much as $75 million, though he hasn’t specified how much of his own money he’ll contribute.
Youngkin stepped down in September as co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, a Washington private equity firm that manages more than $260 billion in investments. In a proxy statement filed this year with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Carlyle reported that Youngkin holds more than 6.7 million shares in the company. At Thursday’s closing stock price of $46.55 a share, that would be worth about $310 million.
But the statement makes clear that Youngkin could have had even more: On his retirement, he walked away from shares in which he was not yet vested that had a total value of more than $108 million.
Campaign spokesman Matt Wolking said Youngkin made a conscious decision to forsake the money and run for office because “he was frustrated seeing his home state of Virginia fall behind.”
Still, the Carlyle holdings are just one of 43 assets that Youngkin lists on his disclosure filing as being worth “more than $250,000” each, the top amount that Virginia requires candidates to disclose.
Because the requirements are so open-ended, it’s impossible to know the upper limits of what each asset is worth. The Carlyle holding shows that it can be an enormous range — though Carlyle is probably Youngkin’s largest single asset.
Other Carlyle financial filings show that in 2018, the first year Youngkin served as co-CEO, he received a compensation package totaling more than $37 million in cash and stock. The following year he received total compensation of about $16.7 million, Carlyle’s filings with the SEC show.
His Virginia financial disclosure report lists 70 holdings of individual stocks, bonds or mutual funds that are each worth between $50,001 and $250,000, and an additional 54 holdings that are each worth between $5,001 and $50,000.
McAuliffe, who served as governor from 2014 to 2018, reported 22 assets worth more than $250,000 each — all but two of them bonds from state localities or public authorities. The other two are interests in partnerships — one a small private equity fund, the other a Florida home developer.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that McAuliffe once held several hundred thousand dollars worth of investments in a Carlyle private equity fund, but the most recent filings show no current holdings. McAuliffe campaign spokeswoman Christina Freundlich said Friday that McAuliffe is now only a “minimal” investor, with a stake worth less than the $5,000 reporting threshold. She emphasized that McAuliffe was a passive investor, with no say in Carlyle’s business of buying and selling companies.
“Glenn Youngkin has made his fortune shipping American jobs overseas and harming seniors and homeowners, all for his own profit,” Freundlich said.
McAuliffe listed 27 assets worth between $50,001 and $250,000 each, and 12 worth $5,001 to $50,000 each.
Unlike Youngkin, McAuliffe reported no holdings of individual stocks.
Youngkin reported that he has put some of his holdings — including his Carlyle assets — into a blind trust. He also has significant stock in tech giants Microsoft, Apple and Alphabet, the parent company of Google. Like McAuliffe, Youngkin has extensive holdings of bonds issued by Virginia localities and authorities.
In addition, Youngkin reported income from substantial real estate holdings in Virginia as well as Wyoming and Texas.
Both men reported far more assets than the other statewide candidates.
On the Republican side, lieutenant governor candidate Winsome Sears reported more than $250,000 in income from her business, Shenandoah Appliance. She also listed one brokerage account worth between $50,001 and $250,000 and two brokerage accounts worth between $5,001 and $50,000.
GOP attorney general candidate Jason Miyares, a Virginia Beach lawyer, reported 14 assets worth between $5,001 and $50,000 each, most of them mutual funds. He also listed more than $250,000 in income from the realty company where his wife serves as president.
Among Democrats, lieutenant governor candidate Hala Ayala reported a salary of “more than $5,000” from the Transportation Security Administration and no other assets. She listed credit card debt between $5,001 and $50,000 and similar debt owed to a savings institution.
Attorney General Mark R. Herring, seeking a third term, reported owning one mutual fund worth more than $250,000 and two mutual funds worth between $50,001 and $250,000 each.
Third-party gubernatorial candidate Princess Blanding reported income of more than $5,000 from Alexandria city schools. She also posted two debts of between $5,001 and $50,000 each.
