TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis’ net worth increased nearly 18 percent in 2024 as his finances continued to be boosted by a book deal.
DeSantis on Tuesday filed an annual financial-disclosure report that showed he had a net worth of $2,087,550 as of Dec. 31, up from $1,773,157 at the end of 2023.
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It was the third consecutive year that DeSantis got a financial boost from his 2023 book, “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival.”
DeSantis received $625,500 in 2024 from HarperCollins Publishers LLC, the same amount as in 2023. The publishing company also paid $1.25 million to DeSantis in 2022.
The book was released in February 2023 as DeSantis prepared to formally launch a presidential campaign. He dropped out of the Republican presidential race in early 2024.
Before the book deal, DeSantis posted a net worth of $318,986 in 2021. His net worth jumped to $1,174,331 in 2022.
State elected officials are required to file financial-disclosure forms by July 1 each year that list income, assets and liabilities. Generally, the forms show financial information from the end of the previous year.
Other than the money from HarperCollins Publishers, DeSantis’ only income in 2024 was $141,400 from the state, according to the newly filed report. Living with his family at the governor’s mansion, DeSantis did not report real-estate holdings.
At the end of 2024, DeSantis had $573,109 in USAA checking and savings accounts; $1.31 million in a savings account with Interactive Brokers; $99,803 in a thrift savings plan, a type of retirement savings and investment plan; and $116,859 in the Florida Retirement System.
DeSantis’ only reported liability was $15,095 in student-loan debt.
At the end of 2023, DeSantis’ USAA accounts totaled $351,078; a savings account with Interactive Brokers was at $1.26 million; the thrift-savings plan stood at $95,592; and the Florida Retirement System account held $84,196.
Meanwhile, state Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson also reported a double-digit percentage jump in his net worth in 2024. Simpson posted a net worth of $19,775,803 as of Dec. 31, up from $16,903,558 at the end of 2023.
A big part of the increase was due to the inclusion of a joint Charles Schwab money-market account holding $3.54 million, which wasn’t part of his 2023 figures.
Simpson was paid $139,628 by the state in 2024, according to his report. He also reported income of $1.183 million in 2024 from Belly Wadding, LLC, which is tied to IHOP restaurants in Florida; $33,663 from Simpson Farms, Inc. in Pasco County; and $12,600 as a member of the Board of Directors of BankFlorida in Dade City.
Other statewide offices have seen turnover this year, with DeSantis appointing former Attorney General Ashley Moody to the U.S. Senate and former state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis getting elected to Congress in a special election. DeSantis in February also appointed his former chief of staff, James Uthmeier, to replace Moody as attorney general.
Nevertheless, Moody and Patronis filed updated financial-disclosure reports.
Moody reported a net worth of $4,426,804 as of Jan. 21, her last day as attorney general. That was down slightly from $4,428,428 at the end of 2023.
Patronis reported a net worth of $9.25 million as of March 31, up from $8.16 million at the end of 2023.
Also, Florida International University President Jeanette Nuñez, who stepped down as lieutenant governor early this year, reported a net worth of $2.45 million on Feb. 16, her final day in the statewide position. That was up from $2.086 million at the end of 2023.
DeSantis has not named replacements for Nuñez and Patronis.
A report for Uthmeier wasn’t available on the Florida Commission on Ethics website Wednesday morning.
Financial-disclosure reports are due by July 1, but officials have a grace period until Sept. 1 before fines of $25 a day --- for up to 60 days --- may be imposed.