SCOTUS, Money, and how much they invest

Many people have been looking into the SCOTUS given that numerous members have broken their financial reporting requirements since 2021.

I have decided to revisit this topic I tackled in 2021 which you can read here.

For those first, a summary:

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court justices disclosed their financial information for 2022 as required by the Ethics in Government Act. However, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito requested and received extensions, while the remaining seven justices met the deadline.

You can read SCOTUS Member Clarence Thomas below now, after filing:

Clarence Thomas's Disclosures:

Newly-filed financial disclosures reveal that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas received more trips funded by Texas billionaire and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow in 2022. The disclosures shed light on the extent of the financial relationship between Justice Thomas and Crow, who has been described as a "longtime friend" of Thomas and his wife.

According to the disclosures:

• Harlan Crow paid for Justice Thomas' travel to speak at a conference in Dallas in May 2022. The conference was hosted at a venue owned by Crow's company.
• Thomas also reported that Crow funded another return flight from a separate event in Dallas and a trip to Crow's private resort in the Adirondacks in New York.
• The May 2022 trip was conducted privately due to increased security concerns following the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion rights case.

The disclosures also note that Crow has reportedly treated Justice Thomas and his wife, conservative activist Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, to luxury travel for over two decades. Much of this financial support did not appear on Thomas' previous financial disclosures.

These revelations follow an investigation by ProPublica, which found that Crow had financed various aspects of the Thomases' lifestyle, including luxury travel, real estate deals, and tuition arrangements. This investigation prompted increased scrutiny of Justice Thomas' financial dealings and calls for greater transparency.

The disclosures contribute to ongoing discussions about the relationship between prominent donors and members of the judiciary, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest and the need for transparency in financial dealings.

Previously: Many were eagerly awaiting Thomas's disclosure form due to news reports revealing previously undisclosed luxury travel expenses, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, paid for by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow. Additionally, there were mentions of other gifts and real estate deals with Crow. Unfortunately, none of this information was included in Thomas's report. Similarly, Justice Alito did not provide any financial details, even though he had previously been the only justice to own various stocks instead of professionally managed mutual funds.

NOTE: These values are approximations. Because SCOTUS gives ranges, I can only estimate returns and networths. I used very rough ranges for each. Members also disclosed new things (likely due to pressure) from gifts, rental properties, old spousal retirement plans, and more, which bumped their networths in recent years. They also benefited significantly from a bull market since 2020.

Scotus networths beating out SPY and the indices since 2020

Scotus has generally see their networth appreciate faster than the market. For many of the members, this is because they have housing appreciation, or lucrative book deals, which gives them large increases to their networths.

Above is a chart exploring the 2020-2022 market and which members are beating SPY.

Kavanaugh is the only member not beating the S&P 500, saying his networth has not changed. He does not disclose his personal residences in his disclosures.

We are still waiting for Alito's and Thomas's networths, while Jackson was just announced to the SCOTUS.

Interesting, Roberts, the wealthiest member of the SCOTUS, did not see his networth increase the most since 2020.

SCOTUS building wealthy retirement funds

By using the minimum values disclosed for assets and transactions, we can generate a conservative estimate of each judge’s wealth. As of the latest data released in 2022, Chief Justice Roberts was the richest individual on the court, followed by Justice Gorsuch.

Based on their 2022 disclosures, the majority of SCOTUS assets and transactions were in tax-advantaged retirement accounts (i.e., IRA, 401k, 403b). This was true for most justices except Justice Samuel Alito, who has several investment accounts trading stocks, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whose reported financial assets included a personal bank account containing no more than $50,000 and a retirement account with less than $15,000 in it.

It is estimated the average salary for a justice is $300,000.

Here's the breakdown with Roberts and without him overtime, given his reported networth has grown considerably

Here is how many transactions they made.

There were many interesting things filed in the disclosures. For example:

• Kagan disclosed rental income from a parking spot she owns in DC
• Jackson disclosed incredibly lavish gifts, from a 1200 bouquet from Oprah, to a 6580 gift from Vogue.
• Amy saw the most amount of transactions this year, with tons of buys and sells as 2022 went on. She sold heavily but on a regular schedule, and bought on a regular schedule, unlike other Justices
• Kavanaugh's networth did not change, weirdly, though he did declare teaching income
• Sotomayor made nearly 200k in royalties and book deals, as well as holds a hefty stock portfolio of indices. Her buys are not seemingly scheduled and seem more planned.
• Roberts still owns individual stock names, but donated much of his TXN stock and sold a bunch at year end, likely taking into account some massive gains on his position, which he held for numerous years. He has had the stock since at least 2010, when it was trading at $24. He sold around the stock being worth $170, a return of over 600%
• Roberts also sold a tons at the year end, and he made amendments to older reports due to undisclosed spousal income. I suspect many Justices have undisclosed transactions after the Alito and Thomas fiascos.
  
  Here is everything thing they reported on:
  
  In summary, all seven justices who filed their disclosures on time followed legal methods to supplement their income under the Ethics in Government Act. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the newest justice, received gifts such as a flower arrangement from Oprah Winfrey and a designer outfit for a Vogue photo shoot. The justices earn an annual salary of $274,000, except for the chief justice who earns $286,000, with an additional allowance of up to $30,000 for teaching. Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh taught at George Mason University and Justice Barrett taught at Notre Dame Law School to maximize their earnings.
• The code of ethics permits justices to receive payment for writing books. Justice Sotomayor has earned over $3.6 million from book royalties, while Justice Gorsuch earned $910,000 from a book deal but only received $277.51 in writing income for 2022. Justice Thomas, who received a $1.5 million advance for his autobiography, hasn't reported any book income since then.
• Some justices generate income from rental properties. Justice Sotomayor earns rental income from her New York apartment, Chief Justice Roberts earns rental income from vacation homes in Maine and Ireland, and Justice Kagan earns rental income from a parking spot in Washington, D.C.
• Spousal income is also relevant for some justices. Chief Justice Roberts' wife, Jane, left her legal career but has faced criticism for her role in recruiting legal talent. To address concerns, the chief justice disclosed that his wife owns an equity stake in the recruiting company she works for.
• The justices reported several trips for delivering speeches, including international travel funded by hosting organizations. Justice Jackson received a floral arrangement from Oprah Winfrey and kept the clothes she wore for a Vogue photo shoot. Justice Barrett spoke at various events within the United States and addressed the American College of Trial Lawyers in Rome. Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh also earned income from teaching, while Justice Kagan was one of the most frequent travelers, speaking in multiple locations.
  
  You can follow all politics at unusualwhales.com/politics