Pete Buttigieg is an American politician who was elected as the 32nd mayor of South Bend, Indiana. He garnered national attention after he announced his presidential bid for the 2020 elections. But just like Beto O’Rourke, Buttigieg dropped his candidacy and endorsed President Joe Biden. As a public servant, many are wondering, what is Pete Buttigieg net worth?
According to a Yahoo! Finance article, Pete Buttigieg has a modest net worth of $250,000. He’s far from the millionaire politicians in the United States, though he remains in the upper-middle-class group.
Who is Pete Buttigieg?
Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg hails from South Bend, Indiana, the very same city he served as a mayor. He’s born on January 19, 1982, and is the only child of Jennifer Montgomery and Joseph Buttigieg who are both educators.
Moreover, Buttigieg attended and graduated from Harvard College. He also attended Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship.
Aside from being the former mayor of South Bend, Pete was also a United States Navy Reserve with a rank of lieutenant.
Pete Buttigieg’s personal life
One of the most prominent pieces of information about Buttigieg’s personal life is the fact that he is openly gay and married to his husband Chasten Glezman, a school teacher. Buttigieg came out in 2015 in midst of his term as South Bend mayor.
According to reports, Pete and Chasten married on June 16, 2018, in the Cathedral of St. James in a private ceremony. His husband Chasten decided to take Pete’s surname in the process.
In September 2021, Buttigieg announced the arrival of their children, a son, and a daughter. The couple didn’t share further details about their children, though it undeniably made them one of the most high-profile gay couples in the United States.
He’s also the first openly gay cabinet member in the United States. And if his presidential bid worked out and he won, Buttigieg would have been the youngest and first openly gay president in the history of America.
Nevertheless, Pete Buttigieg remains the youngest person to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.
Pete Buttigieg’s career
For a 39-year-old politician, Pete Buttigieg has a well-decorated career. He started working on political campaigns of Democrats, including Joe Donnelly, Jill Long Thompson, and John Kerry.
Before finishing his college degree, Buttigieg was an intern at WMAQ-TV and Jill Long Thompson. This was during the failed congressional bid of Thompson in 2002.
In 2007, after gaining his Oxford degree, Buttigieg worked as a consultant in McKinsey & Company. He went on to work on economic development, energy, logistics, and retail for three years. By 2010, Buttigieg decided to leave McKinsey & Company to focus on his political career.
His first foray into politics is in 2010 when he ran as Indiana state treasurer. Unfortunately, he lost the position to the then-incumbent Richard Mourdock.
In 2011, Buttigieg tried his luck running as mayor. He was elected as South Bend mayor in 2011 and continued to serve the city until 2020.
At the same time, Buttigieg served as an intelligence officer for the United States Navy Reserve from 2009 to 2017. And in 2014, he was mobilized and sent to Afghanistan to serve during the war. He took a leave of absence as mayor to fulfill his military duties.
After finishing his term as mayor, Buttigieg announced his plan to run for president in the 2022 U.S. elections. But after losing the South Carolina primary, he decided to drop his candidacy and backed Joe Biden instead.
Currently, Buttigieg is the appointed U.S. transportation secretary under the Joe Biden administration. He was sworn to office in February 2021.
Still, Buttigieg’s presidential buzz is far from over. He’s considered as one of the frontrunners for the 2024 presidential elections.
What is Pete Buttigieg net worth?
Despite his busy political and professional career, Pete Buttigieg is far from being a millionaire. A report on his net worth showed he has $250,000 under his name.
This net worth includes $15,000 in Google stock and $50,000 in Apple stock, at least until 2019. Aside from these small investments, Buttigieg’s major source of income is his political career.
During his term as South Bend mayor, Buttigieg earned an annual $149,000 salary. In 2019, he received a $75,000 advance for the publishing of his autobiography book, Shortest Way Home.
After that, Buttigieg published another book entitled Trust: American’s Best Chance. This earned him an advance of $311, 500.
With these two books, Buttigieg is expected to earn more in royalties in the coming years. His husband, Chasten, also has a memoir entitled I Have Something To Tell You, which could reportedly earn the couple another $50,000 in royalties.
As a transportation secretary, Buttigieg’s income skyrocketed for an average of $800,000 to $1.8 million between January 2019 and December 2020.
On top of his earnings from book deals and salary from government positions, Buttigieg was also paid for a podcast. He was given a guaranteed payment of $150,000 by iHeartMedia for the podcast The Deciding Decade. Overall, Buttigieg hosted 20 episodes and has interviewed famous personalities like Hillary Clinton and John Legend.
Despite all his earnings, Buttigieg and his husband have outstanding student loans. It’s estimated to be around $130,000 combined, a large sum of which are from Chasten’s master’s degree. Overall, Pete’s part only accounts for a small amount of the student loan since he attended college on a scholarship.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is Pete Buttigieg’s salary as transportation secretary?
A: As a transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg is earning an annual salary of $221,400. This is aside from his earnings on book royalties as well as his husband’s salaries from his teaching job. Buttigieg’s salary as a cabinet member is much higher than his $149,000 annual salary as South Bend mayor.
Q: Does Pete Buttigieg have a child?
A: Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten have two children. They named their kids Joseph August and Penelope Rose. They announced the birth of their children in September 2021, but not much information are disclosed about the babies.
Q: Is Pete Buttigieg running for president in 2024?
A: There’s no official announcement yet from Pete Buttigieg about his political plans for 2024. Nevertheless, his name remains at the forefront of potential presidential candidates according to experts. Considering his political history, it’s not surprising if Buttigieg will decide to give the presidency another try.
Q: Does Pete Buttigieg have student loans?
A: Pete Buttigieg has student loans, but the exact amount isn’t disclosed. It’s only known that he and his husband Chasten have a combined student loan amounting to approximately $130,000. If Buttigieg won the 2020 election, he would’ve been the first U.S. president to have an outstanding student loan.
Q: Is Pete Buttigieg rich?
A: Compared to other U.S. mayors and presidential candidates, Buttigieg isn’t the richest. Still, he remains in the upper-middle-class range according to his latest net worth.
Final words
What is Pete Buttigieg net worth? According to the latest reports, Buttigieg only has a wealth amounting to $250,000. During his campaigns, he also took pride in his middle-class and down-to-earth lifestyle.
But considering his ongoing book royalties, we can expect his net worth to get bigger. This is aside from his husband’s income as an educator and author.
(Featured image by Wikimedia Commons)
