According to newly released financial disclosures, White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon, one of President Donald Trump’s closest advisors, has an estimated net worth between $45 million and $48 million.
These disclosures were strategically released by the White House, along with the financial profiles of other senior staff members, including Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The documents reveal that Bannon’s wealth primarily derives from real estate holdings and entertainment ventures. They also clarify that despite his strong association with Breitbart News, he doesn’t own a stake in the conservative media outlet.
Bannon’s most significant asset is his consulting firm, Bannon Strategic Advisors, valued between $45 million and $48 million, while his film production company, Bannon Film Industries, is worth between $1 million and $5 million.
Known for producing politically charged content, the company released “Clinton Cash,” a film critical of the Clintons, based on the book of the same name. Despite his close ties to Breitbart, Bannon’s financial disclosures indicate he doesn’t own the company, although he earned $191,000 last year.
Additional income came from his roles at the Government Accountability Institute, which paid him over $61,000, and data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica, from which he earned $125,000.
Beyond his political and media ventures, Bannon started his career in investment banking, initially at Goldman Sachs and later at his own firm, Bannon & Co., where he secured a lucrative stake in the television series “Seinfeld.”
Stephen Bannon was born on November 27, 1953, in Norfolk, Virginia, to homemaker Doris and telephone lineman Martin. He is of Irish and partial German descent. As a youth, Bannon attended Benedictine College Preparatory, a Catholic military school in Richmond. Subsequently, he attended Virginia Tech and worked at a local junk yard during the summers.
After graduating from Virginia Tech with a degree in urban planning, he became an officer in the US Navy for seven years. During this time, he obtained a master’s degree in national security studies from Georgetown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Following his service in the Navy, Bannon worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs in the Mergers and Acquisitions Department. In 1987, he moved to Los Angeles to assist the company in expanding its presence in the entertainment industry.
Three years later, Bannon and some of his colleagues formed their own company, a boutique investment bank called Bannon & Co. While still managing the company, he became director of the earth science research project Biosphere 2, which operated in Oracle, Arizona.
By the early 1990s, Bannon was immersed in the media world and became an executive producer of many Hollywood films, including “The Indian Runner” and “Titus.” Later, in 2002, he partnered with entertainment industry executive Jeff Kwatinetz at the management company The Firm, Inc.
Following this, he made a Ronald Reagan documentary entitled “In the Face of Evil”; this project subsequently led him to conservative journalist and publisher Andrew Breitbart, who compared Bannon to Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.
Bannon financed and produce such deranged, far-right projects as “The Undefeated” and “Occupy Unmasked.” From 2007 to 2011, he was the CEO and chair of Affinity Media.
He served as vice president of the board of Cambridge Analytica, which used illegal data analytic tactics to target American voters during the 2016 presidential election.
Among his most notorious media endeavors, Bannon was a founding member of Breitbart News, an extreme rightwing website that publishes virulent racist, xenophobic, antisemitic, and sexist material.
He became executive chair of the website’s parent company in 2012 and briefly returned in 2017 following his brief employment at the White House. In 2018, Bannon was ousted from Breitbart. He subsequently formed Citizens of the American Republic, a dark money organization.
In August of 2016, Bannon was appointed chief executive of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Following the latter’s election, he became his chief strategist and senior counselor.
Along with Stephen Miller, Bannon was central to the creation of the racist executive order that restricted US travel and immigration from several Muslim-majority countries. He was ultimately removed from his role in April 2017, and he officially left the White House in August.
Following his departure from the White House, Bannon toured Europe to speak at various far-right political events to build a global network of fascist parties.
Later, in August 2020, New York federal prosecutors charged Bannon and three other men with defrauding donors in a major crowdfunding campaign that claimed to be raising money for building a wall along the US-Mexico border. Pleading not guilty, Bannon was pardoned by Trump before the date of his trial.
After posting death threats against infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci on social media in November of 2020, Bannon was permanently banned from Twitter, just like his former boss, Donald Trump.
In September of 2021, Bannon received a subpoena from the US House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, ordering him to appear on October 14. When he did not comply, the House of Representatives voted to hold him in criminal contempt of Congress. He was subsequently referred to the Justice Department for a potential prosecution.
Bannon opposes immigration, denies climate change, and supports populist authoritarian movements in the US and in countries throughout Europe.
In his personal life, Bannon has been married and divorced multiple times. His first marriage was to Cathleen Suzanne Houff, with whom he had a daughter named Maureen. Following their divorce, Bannon wed former investment banker Mary Louise Piccard in 1995.
The pair had twin daughters and split in 1997. During their marriage, Bannon was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, battery, and dissuading a witness. Later 2006, he married Diane Clohesy; they divorced in 2009.
After serving as a US Navy lieutenant, Bannon worked in finance. After a short fling in the film industry, Bannon co-founded the right-wing ‘news’ site Breitbart. He guided the site into being a platform tailor-made for the alt-right in America, using the platform to push his right-wing agenda.
Taking the reins in 2012, Bannon turned the site into a force, which rose to a monthly traffic of 17.3 million users in 2017 before he became Donald Trump’s paid advisor. For comparison, established media like The Washington Post had 71 million people viewing the site in December 2021.
Bannon has had plenty of money-making ventures in the last twenty years. Outside of Breitbart, he used his connections to convince investors to give him money for projects such as underpaying a Chinese workforce to ‘farm’ for World of Warcraft items before selling them to players for real money.
Bloomberg reported that Bannon’s stake in Cambridge Analytica, a data collection firm linked to Brexit, was sold for up to $5 million before he joined Trump’s administration.
Surprisingly, he also took a cut of the serialization of Seinfeld during his time as an investment banker. Various organizations reported that Bannon made $32 million from the deal in 1993.
He may have made some of his money through illegal means and was under federal investigation for allegedly defrauding hundreds of thousands of dollars from his “We Build the Wall” campaign.
Although President Trump pardoned him, he’s still being tried at the state level in New York, with a court date set for November 2023.
Steve Bannon is an American media executive and political consultant worth around $45 to $48 million. He’s best known for serving as Donald Trump’s chief strategist during the first seven months of his Presidential term.
Previously, he was executive chairman of the far-right website Breitbart and served on the board of the now-defunct data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica.
In 2020, Bannon was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering, and the next year was held in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
Bannon has financed and produced several films, including “The Undefeated,” “Fire from the Heartland: The Awakening of the Conservative Woman,” and “Occupy Unmasked.” Bannon served as acting director of Biosphere 2 before he moved to Hollywood and executive produced Anthony Hopkins’s 1999 movie “Titus.”
An April 2017 financial disclosure showed that Steve Bannon earned several hundred thousand dollars in 2016 as a consultant for various conservative media organizations.
The disclosure also showed that his consulting firm, Bannon Strategic Advisors Inc., was valued between $5 million and $25 million and that he personally held bank accounts with as much as $2.25 million and real estate rental property worth as much as $10.5 million.
Perhaps most interestingly, in 1993, Bannon negotiated a deal to acquire an estimated 1% of the syndication profits of the TV show “Seinfeld.” In 1995, Seinfeld was sold into syndication for the first time. Over the next two decades, Bannon’s 1% equity stake would generate around $33 million in dividends.
On August 20, 2020, US postal inspectors arrested Steve Bannon on a 150-foot yacht off the coast of Connecticut. Bannon’s arrest was connected to a charity called “We Build the Wall.” Banon and several alleged co-conspirators were arrested for allegedly siphoning money from the charity to use on personal expenses and purchases.
The yacht Bannon was arrested on is owned by a Chinese billionaire, Guo Wengui, one of China’s most wanted fugitives. Coincidentally, in the same week of his arrest, several banks freeze accounts connected to fundraising efforts
Steve Bannon’s net worth, estimated to be between $45 and $48 million in 2024, underscores his diverse career across politics, media, and finance. From his time as a key advisor in the White House to his film and investment banking ventures, Bannon has built significant wealth through varied endeavors.
His financial standing reflects his controversial political influence and business acumen. As Bannon continues navigating new opportunities and challenges, his net worth is a testament to his multifaceted career and enduring presence in public life.
Judith Harvey is a seasoned finance editor with over two decades of experience in the financial journalism industry. Her analytical skills and keen insight into market trends quickly made her a sought-after expert in financial reporting.
