What is Richard Blumenthal's Net Worth?
Richard Blumenthal is a lawyer and Democratic politician who has a net worth of $85 million. Richard Blumenthal has consistently ranked as one of the richest members of Congress. He owes the majority of his net worth to a business empire inherited from his real estate magnate father-in-law. Richard's father-in-law Peter Malkin is the chairman of Malkin Holdings and Empire State Realty Trust, both of which own and lease office and retail space in Manhattan. The latter company owns the Empire State Building, among many other assets. Today the Malkin empire is run by his brother-in-law Scott Malkin.
Richad Blumenthal has served as the senior US senator from Connecticut since 2011. Before that, he was Attorney General of Connecticut from 1991 to 2011, and a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1985 to 1987. Earlier in his career, Blumenthal served in the US Marine Corps Reserve and practiced private law.
Early Life and Education
Richard Blumenthal was born on February 13, 1946 in New York City to Jewish parents Jane and Martin. His father was a German immigrant, and his mother was from Nebraska. He has a brother named David who went on to become a doctor and the president of the Commonwealth Fund. As a youth, Blumenthal was educated at Riverdale Country School in the Bronx. He went on to attend Harvard College, graduating magna cum laude in 1967. Over one of his summers, he interned as a reporter for the Washington Post in the London Bureau, and was selected for a Fiske Fellowship. This allowed him to study at both Trinity College and the University of Cambridge for one year following his graduation from Harvard. After that, Blumenthal attended Yale Law School, from which he obtained his JD in 1973.
Military Service
During the Vietnam War, Blumenthal received five draft deferments based on his education and occupation. He ended up enlisting in the US Marine Corps Reserve in 1970, and served in units in Washington, DC and Connecticut until 1976, attaining the rank of sergeant.
Career Beginnings in Law and Politics
After law school, Blumenthal passed the bar and began his professional career doing administrative and clerical work for various Washington, DC figures. He assisted Senator Abraham A. Ribicoff, Judge Jon O. Newman, and Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun, among others. Blumenthal subsequently became a partner in the law firm Cummings & Lockwood, and then in Silver, Golub & Sandak. From 1977 to 1981, he served as US Attorney for the District of Connecticut. After leaving that position, Blumenthal formed and became the chair of the Citizens Crime Commission of Connecticut, a private nonprofit. He was also a volunteer counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund from 1981 to 1986, and a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1985 to 1987.
Attorney General of Connecticut
In 1990, Blumenthal was elected as Attorney General of Connecticut. He was reelected four more times, serving until 2011. During his tenure, Blumenthal focused on a wide variety of issues, from ameliorating interstate air pollution to cracking down on sexual predation on the Internet. He also helped lead major lawsuits against various entities and individuals, including the tobacco industry, Microsoft, the Tomasso Group, Countrywide Financial, Computer Plus Center of East Hartford, and Robin Barnes, the president and treasurer of the Village Academy charter school in New Haven. Among his other notable actions, Blumenthal led legal proceedings by the Big East football schools against the Atlantic Coast Conference, alleging that the ACC was conspiring to dismantle the Big East.
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US Senator
After US Senator Chris Dodd announced his retirement from the Senate in early 2010, Blumenthal announced he would run for Dodd's seat. He ultimately won the election in November, beating professional wrestling magnate Linda McMahon with 55% of the vote to her 43%. Following the retirement of Joe Lieberman in 2013, Blumenthal became the senior senator from Connecticut. He was reelected in 2016 with 63.2% of the vote over Republican Dan Carter, in the process becoming the first candidate ever to earn over a million votes in a statewide Connecticut election. Blumenthal was reelected again in 2022 by defeating Leora Levy.
During his tenure in the US Senate, Blumenthal has worked with Senator Mark Kirk to eliminate pensions for Congress members convicted of felonies while in office. He also partnered with Representative John Conyers Jr. to lead a group of 196 congressmen in filing a federal lawsuit against Donald Trump for violating the US Constitution's emoluments clause. In the wake of the US Capitol attack in 2021, Blumenthal called on Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump, whom he declared had "incited, instigated, and supported" the attack.
Political Positions
A lifelong Democrat, Blumenthal supports progressive causes. He supports women's rights, LGBTQ rights, and the rights of immigrants. Notably, he is one of Congress's most outspoken critics of arbitration clauses and class action waivers. In 2019, Blumenthal and other senators introduced the Child Care for Working Families Act, which created hundreds of thousands of new child care jobs and supported universal access to high-quality preschool programs. He is also a staunch advocate of gun control.
Personal Life
In June of 1982, Blumenthal married Cynthia Malkin, the daughter of real estate investor Peter L. Malkin. She is a fellow alum of Harvard. Together, Blumenthal and Malkin have four children, including Matt, who was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 2018.
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