DeSantis shows increase in net worth

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (The News Service of Florida) – Governor Ron DeSantis’ net worth has increased by nearly 20% in his second year as the state’s top executive.

With his only income listed, a taxpayer-funded salary of $ 134,181, DeSantis reported a net worth of $ 348,832 as of Dec.31, 2020, up from $ 291,449 at the end of 2019, according to a financial disclosure released Monday on the Florida Commission on Ethics. website.

State officials face a July 1 deadline to file annual disclosure reports, which typically detail their finances at the end of the previous year. Late filers have until September to submit reports before facing fines – $ 25 per day, with a cap of $ 1,500.

The forms require disclosure of estimated net worth, assets valued over $ 1,000, liabilities over $ 1,000, and income information.

In addition to his salary in 2020, DeSantis listed assets of $ 235,000 in a USAA account; $ 105,755 in a government savings plan, a type of retirement savings and investment plan; and $ 30,302 in the Florida retirement system.

The USAA account increased by $ 29,500 from the previous year, while the state’s pension system money increased by just over $ 16,000 and the savings plan of the former congressman increased by $ 7,985.

DeSantis also repaid a Sallie Mae student loan of $ 3,605 in 2020, with a remaining balance of $ 22,225 as of December 31.

DeSantis, who lives in the governor’s mansion and has no real estate listings, sold his Ponte Vedra Beach home in March 2019 for $ 460,000, according to St. Johns County real estate records.

When he ran for office in 2018, DeSantis posted a net worth of $ 283,605.

Forms for 2020 had not been filed Monday morning by Attorney General Ashley Moody, State CFO Jimmy Patronis, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez, Speaker of the House Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor and Senate Speaker Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby.

Fried, however, was recently criticized for modifying earlier disclosure forms, posting previously unreported income she earned as a marijuana lobbyist before being elected.

In May, Fried revised his form for 2019, submitted to the Ethics Commission, to show $ 351,480 in income from Igniting Florida, LLC in 2018, up from $ 72,000 in a previous report. She also amended a financial statement submitted to the state’s elections division, increasing her 2017 income from Igniting Florida from $ 84,000 to $ 165,761.

It wasn’t the first time Fried had made an amendment.

In January 2020, Fried reported Igniting Florida’s income of $ 72,000 in 2018. This was not in his initial disclosure filed in 2019.

The changes did not alter his reported net worth, which as of June 28, 2019 was $ 1.4 million and as of December 31, 2019 was $ 1.448 million.

In a statement this month, Fried spokesman Max Flugrath said all of his assets were disclosed.

“When filing the form in 2018, Commissioner Fried provided her lawyer with her salary for the 2018 calendar year, which is approximately six months of income,” said Flugrath. “We realized that the gross income for 2017, including all income and reimbursements from his business, should have been reported, not just his salary.”