Global Courant
Claim:
Evidence suggests that U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is a multimillionaire after spending just over four years in Congress.
Judgement:
On September 27, 2023, a user on four years.
“I’m more interested in how she became a multi-millionaire in four years,” the user said Posted (archived).
This post received thousands of likes and appeared as a response to a discussion in which X owner Elon Musk had previously said (archived) from Ocasio-Cortez: “She’s just not that smart.”
Many other users repeated the same rumor about her finances in subsequent tweets, not to mention that we’ve also received reader mail on this topic in the past.
One user for example replied (archived), “@AOC has become a multi-millionaire since coming to Congress. Can’t be too stupid, @elonmusk.”
Another person Posted (archived) about the congressman: “You haven’t done anything good since you were elected, and somehow on a modest politician’s salary you became a multi-millionaire in four years.”
Other reports claimed Ocasio-Cortez was there $24 million (archived) or maybe $29 million (archived) in the bank.
These examples were just a few of the examples the many other messages (archived) with the same central claim that Ocasio-Cortez had become a multi-millionaire in just over four years.
However, according to Ocasio-Cortez’s own financial disclosures posted on the US House of Representatives website, this rumor was false.
If Reuters Previously reported in August 2022, Ocasio-Cortez’s financial disclosures revealed that she was far from a millionaire, let alone a multi-millionaire. (Her campaign website ocasiocortez.com also mentioned the same article.)
We reviewed Ocasio-Cortez’s financial disclosures 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 And 2023. (These revelations on the U.S. House of Representatives website presented some data in ranges rather than exact dollar figures.)
According to the most recent disclosure from 2023, Ocasio-Cortez had documented that she had no more than between $1,001 and $15,000 in each of three different bank accounts. The total for these three accounts would be somewhere between $3,003 and $45,000.
She also mentioned in the disclosure that she had between $1,001 and $15,000 in extra money in a fourth account for a 401k plan.
Furthermore, she noted in the disclosure that she was still paying off student loans, with a “liability amount” landing somewhere between $15,001 and $50,000.
In other words, Ocasio-Cortez was at least $940,000 short of becoming a millionaire, with the maximum possible amount from the four accounts being $60,000, and that’s before her student loan debt was even factored in.
By email, we presented the Reuters article and financial disclosures to Ocasio-Cortez’s press office and asked if they had any further comment or resources. “Nothing to add,” they replied.
We rather reported on a similar false rumor that claimed Ocasio-Cortez owned one of the most expensive homes in the world.
Sources:
“Fact Check: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez does NOT have a net worth of $29 million.” OcasioCortez.com, https://www.ocasiocortez.com/fact-checks/fact-check-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-does-not-have-a-net-worth-of-29-million.
“Fact-check financial disclosures do not show Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a millionaire.” Reuters, March 11, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-aoc-millionaire-idUSL1N2L91VJ.
“Fact Check-No Evidence Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a net worth of $29 million.” Reuters, August 9, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-aoc-net-worth-idUSL1N2ZL1O2.
“Financial Disclosure Reports.” Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/FinancialDisclosure.
Putterman, Samantha. “No, Netflix Didn’t Pay Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez $10 Million for Documentary.” PolitiFact, February 15, 2019, https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/feb/15/facebook-posts/no-netflix-did-not-pay-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-10/.
