Financial reports are in for Governor and Florida Cabinet members and not everyone is a millionaire

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Florida’s Cabinet members filed their annual financial disclosures, as required each year by July 1. State officials have sometimes reported massive personal wealth, such as the $232 million net worth former Governor Rick Scott reported in 2018 – but the current Cabinet lives a bit more humbly.

Family wealth. A distributed blind trust. A non-billionaire Governor. A missing report. It’s all there.

With ever-present competition among Cabinet members on everything from media attention to speaking time at Cabinet meetings, net worth is yet another way to stack up Florida’s statewide elected officials.

With that, here’s how they rank:

First place: Jimmy Patronis

Net worth: $6,488,529

Patronis, the state’s Chief Financial Officer and a former House member before his appointment by then-Governor Scott and election in 2018, reported a net worth of $6,488,529, down from $6,626,733 in 2018. While Patronis’ $2,259,110 stock holdings in his family’s company decreased by $317,066, the value of his household goods increased by $40,000.

Patronis reported $882,935 in land, homes, and condominiums he owns, including a $479,507 home in Panama City Beach, and five land parcels valued at $366,312. The value of Patronis’ accounts with Centennial Bank also dramatically increased to $738,814, up from $595,561 in 2018. Patronis also gained on the stock market, with his brokerage accounts increasing to $440,216, up from $340,734 in 2018.

Second place: Ashley Moody

Net worth: unknown

Moody, the state’s Attorney General and a Hillsborough County judge before taking office in 2019, last year reported a net worth of $2.99 million. But as of this writing, she did not yet have a 2019 financial disclosure available for public view. Assuming Moody’s net worth hasn’t changed dramatically since last year, she’s in the money in second place.

Third place: Nikki Fried

Net worth: $1,448,972

Fried, the only elected Democrat in the Cabinet, reported a net worth of $1,448,972, a 3% increase from her 2018 net worth of $1,401,563. The changes include a small increase in the value of the Tallahassee home she purchased last year with her fiancé, costs from furnishing that home, and a small decrease in cash and equivalents.

A spokeswoman for Fried’s political committee also addressed the blind trust Fried opened in 2018 before taking office, then valued at $360,588.

Prior to launching her campaign in 2018, Fried phased out contracts with lobbying clients including the Broward County School Board, Florida’s Children First, and San Felasco Nursery, the latter of which owed Fried a contractual payout for work completed during the previous year. As part of that contract, Fried was eligible for a small equity stake upon the sale of that company, at which time vesting would take place.

Fried’s committee spokeswoman confirmed that San Felasco Nursery was sold in late 2018 to Harvest Health & Recreation, Inc., an Arizona-based marijuana industry company. She noted that while Fried doesn’t regulate Florida’s medical marijuana program, in the interest of good government she in 2018 placed her previously earned equity stake in the Arizona marijuana company into a professionally-managed blind trust.

The spokeswoman also said that after the 2019 change in state law regarding blind trusts, and to remain fully compliant, Fried directed that the blind trust be closed and the assets, now valued at $190,260, placed back into Ignite Holdings, LLC. Fried also listed a student loan of $73,584 and an auto loan of $26,328, both slightly lower than 2018.

Fourth place: Ron DeSantis

Net worth: $291,449

A far cry from his predecessor, DeSantis lives a humble life by comparison. Elected Florida’s Governor in 2018, DeSantis reported a net worth of $291,449, up from $283,604 in 2018. His assets include $205,500 in a USAA bank account, a dramatic increase from the $41,532 listed in his USAA account in 2018. DeSantis also listed a Sallie Mae student loan of $25,830, and no longer lists the $450,000 home in Ponte Vedra Beach listed in 2018 among his assets.

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While Patronis filed his annual financial disclosure on June 29, and Fried and DeSantis filed on June 30, it’s unclear whether Moody had filed by the deadline. This story will be updated when Moody’s disclosure becomes unavailable.