Ohio Senator JD Vance has been chosen as Donald Trump’s running mate for the 2024 presidential election. After Trump made the announcement at the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Monday, July 15, Vance spoke on X (formerly Twitter ). “Just overwhelmed with gratitude. It is an honor to run alongside President Donald J. Trump,” Vance wrote. “He provided peace and prosperity once, and with his help, he will do so again. Onward to victory!
Vance, 39, made headlines after his memoir Hillbilly elegy was published in 2016. The book chronicles his upbringing in rural Ohio, in a community experiencing severe economic decline, and sold at least 1.6 million copies to date. Hillbilly elegy it was adapted into a film in 2020 and distributed by Netflix.
The Ohio senator finally managed to get ahead by enlisting in the Marine Corps right out of high school, where he served as a combat correspondent. After finishing his service, he completed a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy at Ohio State University before completing a law degree at Yale University.
After initially working as a law clerk for Senator John Cornyn and Judge David Bunning, Vance changed his career path to work as a venture capitalist, according to The Texas Tribune. In 2018, he and his wife Usha Chilukuri – who have three children – bought a home in Cincinnati for $1.4 million. It is now estimated to be worth US$1.8 million, per Forbes. In 2021, Vance was believed to hold between $3 million and $10 million in liquid assets and venture capital holdings, according to Forbes.
In early 2023, Vance and his wife purchased a second home in Alexandria, Virginia for $1.6 million. This property is believed to be worth $1.8 million today. Forbes estimates his total real estate assets to be worth $4 million.
Interestingly, it was the support of a Silicon Valley billionaire that was especially crucial in financing Vance’s political career. Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, with whom Vance became close after he was hired by the venture capital firm Mithril Capital, which Thiel co-founded, donated $10 million for Vance’s Senate campaign in March 2021, helping him launch his political career. Vance’s stint in the world of venture capital, which gained momentum in 2015 when he joined Thiel’s companyit has also allowed him to make connections with other high-profile individuals, including Tesla founder Elon Musk and technology entrepreneur David Sacks, by New York Times.
According to Forbes, Vance is “worth about $10 million” today. Meanwhile, the website Celebrity Net Worth, which also provides rough estimates of the net worth of several well-known people, estimates that Vance is worth approximately $5 million since today.
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