What is Dick Cheney's Net Worth?

CPAC 2011 - Dick Cheney - Photo

Name: Dick Cheney

Born: January 30th, 1941

Company: Halliburton Company

Position: Former Vice President of the United States, Former Chairman/CEO of Halliburton Company

Dick Cheney currently has a net worth of an estimated:



Dick Cheney, former Vice President of the United States and former Chairman and CEO of Halliburton Company, is a very wealthy man.

Richard "Dick" Cheney wasn't always on a path to untold riches. As a matter of fact, Cheney seemed destined to become a "lifer" politician, as one of his first jobs out of college (University of Wyoming, BA and MA in Political Science) was working as an intern for Congressman William A. Steiger. Cheney wasn't the type of politician who accumulated a large amount of wealth and then decided to run for office - rather, Cheney worked his way up the political ranks and then joined the private sector, where he amassed a significant amount of wealth in a short period of time.

After serving as the White House Chief of Staff (Nixon/Ford) and as a member of the US House of Representatives, Cheney was named as the Secretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush. Cheney followed President George H.W. Bush out of office, eventually accepting a job in the private sector as the Chairman and CEO of Halliburton Company.


Halliburton was where Cheney would accumulate a significant portion of his wealth. Despite only working with the company for six years (1995-2000), Cheney brought in an estimated $72.5 million in compensation, including $12.5 million in salary, $40 million in stock and options and an additional $20 million retirement package when he decided to run with George W. Bush in the 2000 Presidential election. Having said that, shares of Halliburton did very well under Cheney's leadership, increasing from the single digits to over $20 per share. George W. Bush personally asked Cheney to be his running mate, and Cheney obviously accepted. Cheney likely would have made hundreds of millions of dollars more had he decided to remain as the Chairman and CEO of Halliburton.

As Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney had to file a personal financial disclosure every year that he was in office. His last filing was made in 2008, so we can get an idea of his financial standing as of that date.

The 2008 personal financial disclosure for Dick Cheney notes that his net worth was somewhere between $11.4 million and $50.1 million (note: asset values are given in ranges, so we don't know Cheney's exact net worth in 2008 to the penny) at the time. There were zero liabilities listed on the disclosure.

Dick and Lynne Cheney's largest assets as of 2008:

Northern Trust Bank Joint Checking Account ($500,001 to $1,000,000)
Vanguard Tax-Exempt Money Market Account ($1,000,000 to $5,000,000)
American Century Investments International Bond Fund ($1,000,000 to $5,000,000)
GMO Tax-Managed US Equities Fund III ($1,000,000 to $5,000,000)
GMO US Qualify Equity Fund III ($1,000,000 to $5,000,000)
GMO Tax-Managed Int'l Equities Fund III ($500,000 to $1,000,000)

Lazard international Equity Fund ($1,000,000 to $5,000,000)
Lazard Emerging Markets Fund ($1,000,000 to $5,000,000)
Loomis Sayles Global Bond Fund-1 ($500,000 to $1,000,000)

Vanguard Group Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Admiral Shares ($1,000,000 to $5,000,000)
Vanguard Group - IRA, Inflation Protected Securities Fund ($500,000 to $1,000,000)
Vanguard Group - IRA Rollover, Inflation Protected Securities fund ($1,000,000 to $5,000,000)
Vanguard Group - IRA Rollover, Inflation Protected Securities Fund ($1,000,000 to $5,000,000)

Dick and Lynne Cheney's portfolio is pretty typical for a sitting President or Vice Presidential - nothing too flashy and plenty of unremarkable assets.


Dick Cheney has remained relatively low-key since leaving the White House.

Cheney has, however, penned two books since leaving public office - "In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir" and "Heart: An American Medical Odyssey". These two books, especially the former, have likely brought in at least a couple million dollars of income for the Cheney family.

Lynne Cheney is a prolific novelist herself, having authored or co-authored over a dozen books.


I would estimate the total net worth of the Cheney family at approximately $40 million.

Photo: Gage Skidmore


Dick Cheney is worth 517 times more than the median US household

If Dick Cheney sold everything that they owned, they could fund the United States' deficit spending for 0 days.


Note: Net Worth changes calculated at 4 pm EST daily
