Vance makes money off book, Gibbons reports $15M
Author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance earned over $1 million in 2020 and the first part of this year, including $347,000 for his book “Hillbilly Elegy.”
Meanwhile, investment banker Mike Gibbons reported nearly $15 million between salaries, partnerships and other income.
Taken together, the latest financial disclosures in Ohio’s Senate race highlight the significant personal wealth fueling the crowded GOP primary.
Vance and Gibbons are vying for the nomination in a field that includes former state treasurer Josh Mandel, former Ohio GOP chairwoman Jane Timken, state Sen. Matt Dolan and businessman Bernie Moreno. Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians, has until mid-january to report his finances.
Aside from book royalties, Vance brought in $408,000 from his Peter Thiel-backed venture capital firm Narya Capital and $125,000 from Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, a seed fund for entrepreneurs backed by AOL founder Steve Case. He also made money off the conservative American Enterprise Institute and J.D. Vance Enterprises LLC, which holds investments and promotes Vance’s appearances.
Vance reported investments in an array of private companies that deal in software, housekeeping and health care services, among other products. He was also an investor in Kentuckybased Appharvest, whose board he left earlier this year.
Vance has between $100,001 and $250,000 in bitcoin and collected rent from a single-family townhome in Washington, D.C.
Gibbons’ stock and real estate
Gibbons, who filed his disclosure months after the deadline, easily eclipsed Vance and his other opponents in personal income.
He’s an investor in large technology companies like Facebook, Paypal and
Microsoft, as well as Ohio-based Lordstown Motors. Gibbons was an early proponent of the beleaguered electric vehicle maker – which is now selling its plant to Foxconn Technology Group – and his firm was tasked with raising $450 million from investors to get the company off the ground.
Gibbons also owns multiple properties in Ohio, plus a North Carolina beach house and a townhome in southwest New York.
Haley Bemiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch and 20 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.