The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Walker worth up to $65 million, filing shows
GOP candidate for Senate far outpaces rivals in wealth.
U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker is worth somewhere between $29 million and $65 million, and he pulled down about $4 million in income from late 2020 through late 2021, according to financial disclosures he filed late Wednesday.
Walker’s wealth far surpasses that of the incumbent, Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, as well as the other Republican candidates for the seat. Warnock’s financial disclosures, filed last year during his campaign, showed the pastor of an Atlanta church has a net worth between $555,014 and $1.3 million.
Members of the U.S. Senate and House and federal candidates are required by law to submit reports outlining their income, assets and liabilities. However, they don’t have to list specific amounts for most categories, only whether each individual line item falls within certain ranges. As a result, it’s impossible to pin down the exact net worth of an individual.
Walker, a former football star, takes an annual $100,000 salary from his poultry production company, Renaissance Man Food Services. He also received more than $420,000 from a pair of sports marketing companies. A Delaware-based mental health care provider is paying him $330,000 this year to serve as a spokesman for its support program for veterans.
About $400,000 of his earnings were from speeches he delivered to more than a dozen groups, including charities such as the Boys and Girls Club that paid him as much as $27,000.
He was paid $20,000 in October to speak to the Mid City Women’s Clinic in Hurst, Texas, and $27,000 in November to speak to the Pregnant Choice medical group in Augusta. Both are among a network of clinics that seek to deter abortions.
Walker also spoke to the Republican Attorneys General Association in August 2020 during its meeting in Sea Island. That is the group from which state Attorney General Chris Carr resigned as chairman after it paid for a robocall telling people to march to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, when lawmakers were confirming Democrat Joe Biden’s victory as president. That march turned into a riot at the Capitol.
Walker received $22,500 for that appearance.
The Republican candidate hasn’t yet started drawing from his retired NFL player’s pension, but the NFL provides his health insurance.
Walker and his wife also have followed in the steps of his GOP predecessors in Georgia’s U.S. Senate races by putting all their investments in mutual funds instead of owning stocks in individual companies. Former U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler faced criticism for their stock holdings and trading during the coronavirus pandemic, but Walker’s campaign said that isn’t the reason why he chose not to hold stocks in companies directly.
Altogether, the Walkers’ bank accounts and mutual funds are worth between $4 million and $14 million. The couple reported very little income from the investments over the past year.
Another GOP candidate, Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, reported assets worth up to nearly $5 million in financial disclosures filed this month. That includes his farm in Georgia and mutual funds. Black is paid a little over $120,000 a year as state agriculture commissioner.
Two other candidates, Navy veteran Latham Saddler and construction company owner Kelvin King, filed their reports earlier. Saddler is paid $563,559 as chief of staff to the chairman and CEO of Synovus Bank, and he owns up to $1 million in investments. The only individual company Saddler invested in is Atlanta-based Coca-cola.
King, whose company Osprey Management is worth between $1 million and $5 million, said he earned $706,613 in salary and unearned distribution of profits. He is the only candidate who continues to invest heavily in stocks in individual companies with shares of brands such as AT&T, General Motors, Intel and Kellogg part of his portfolio. Those assets are worth between $1.7 million and $5.7 million.