Atwater’s net worth higher as he leaves Florida CFO post

TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s outgoing chief financial officer is leaving the Cabinet post more than $1 million richer than when he first campaigned for the job.

Jeff Atwater, who exits Friday for a job at Florida Atlantic University with more than a year remaining in his term as CFO, posted a net worth of nearly $2.6 million as of Dec. 31, 2016, according to a financial disclosure report posted this week on the Florida Commission on Ethics’ website.

When he first ran for the statewide office in 2010, his estimated net worth stood at almost $1.6 million. Among the biggest changes for the former banker from North Palm Beach since then was trading in the longtime family home for waterfront property in the same neighborhood in 2014.

In 2014, Atwater reported the value of the former family home as $345,065, up from its appraised value of $267,000 during the 2010 campaign. The new homestead — with a two-car garage, pool and its own dock — was valued at $750,000 when purchased in 2014. In the latest report, the home was appraised at $909,000.

Atwater, a Senate president before seeking the statewide office, said he earned roughly $128,161 last year from his state job and another $37,562 in deferred payments from Bank of America, the bank that took over his former employer, Barnett Bank. He also has more than $1.2 million tied to a Northern Trust IRA account, according to his latest report.

Next week, he will begin work as a vice president at Boca Ratonbased FAU, managing finances and economic development.

Former Public Service Commissioner Jimmy Patronis, who was appointed to the job Monday by Gov. Rick Scott, will replace Atwater. As a member of the commission since 2015, Patronis — a family restaurateur from Panama City who resigned as a utility regulator Sunday — wasn’t required to list his personal net worth or the estimated values of his personal holdings in his disclosures.

But in his final year as a member of the Florida House, Patronis’ financial disclosure listed a net worth of nearly $5.8 million as of Dec. 31, 2013.