Forbes says Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross lied about being a billionaire

[mobeau69]

Source: CNBC

Turns out Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross may have greatly exaggerated his wealth, according to a report from Forbes.

Just a year ago, Forbes listed Ross' net worth at $2.9 billion and included him in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans by net worth. The new report says Ross had just under $700 million in assets. It cited financial-disclosure forms filed by Ross after being nominated for his Commerce secretary.

After Forbes learned about this, the magazine said, it wanted to remove Ross from the Forbes 400. Ross protested, according to the report, telling the magazine it wasn't taking into account some trusts created for his family, which add "more than $2 billion" to his net worth and which he did not have to disclose in federal filings.

But the magazine said that after "one month of digging," it is confident that the more than $2 billion never existed. It said it removed him when it updated its list of richest Americans last month.


Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/07/forbes-commerce-secretary-wilbur-ross-lied-about-being-a-billionaire.html

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What's noteworthy isn't the fact that he's not a billionaire but that he feels the need to lie about it.

Birds of a feather...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. They lie about everything. And beyond $10 million, it is all about keeping score and raw power. . nt

[BootinUp]

2. Forbes is evil for reporting this!

Something we may hear Ross say.

[lagomorph777]

3. So...did he lie to the Government, or to Forbes?

He's in a pretty small box here.

Ohhh, Wilburrrrr!

[mobeau69]

5. Apparently, just Forbes in this case.

[BumRushDaShow]

17. But maybe not

given all the money laundering and sheltering going on.

[George II]

4. I'll bet he's got small hands, too.

[janterry]

6. I agree, it's the lie and

the chase for more money that is so evil. He has enough. He could spend his final days (he's not a young man after all
helping others. In service. Doing good, learning, spreading as much positive energy as he can.

Instead he is fighting to earn more (or at least pretend he has more). This is what it means to be mean-spirited, small-minded - piggish (with all due respect to the pigs).

Wow.

[vlyons]

19. Greed is poison

nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. That's *ruble* billionaire, silly (nt)

[Achilleaze]

8. Well, he's a republican. So not surprising he's a liar.

the republicans have earned an ugly reputation as a party of liars. Sad.

[Thor_MN]

9. When they are taking down these criminals, civil asset forfeiture should be in full force..

They are using their wealth, or appearance of it, in committing crimes, so it should be seized. Even if they are not eventually charged with any crime, just like "normal" people.

Could plug a lot of holes in the budget with the proceeds.

[BainsBane]

13. +1

[riversedge]

10. Liar Trump surrounds himself with Liars.

[Bengus81]

11. Bet his Trophy wife is PO'd. Can't really get by on a measly $700M these days....

Hell,she'll probably file for divorce before it's all gone. Gawd what a load of DIRTBAGS that surround Trump.

[forgotmylogin]

12. So they lie and say they have more money...

...until it's tax-time, then they lie and say they don't have money "What money? What Cayman Islands?"

I think that's the standard idea going around: the highest insult to Trump is to imply he's not as rich as he says he is.

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. Good point...

If I have 2 billion squirreled away in off shore tax havens, do I get to count that, or not?
Tricky question
but
if you declare you are worth the 2 billion, then you should prove it.

Nice thing is if Mueller is gonna charge RICO or laundering, all the money goes to the Gov.

[forgotmylogin]

22. Millionaires and better should be taxed on their declared worth.

If Forbes publishes they are worth two billion, that should be the starting point.

[bucolic_frolic]

14. Braggarts will lie about the size of anything

when you reach the age of aggrandizing you are really past it

[blueinredohio]

15. Trump is lying about his fortune too

[spiderpig]

16. But-but-but...he has a Monet!

(Oh, that's right)

[TeamPooka]

18. a fake billionaire working for a fake bilionaire.

[mobeau69]

21. Sorry, but you just can't make this stuff up!

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

23. Ross transfered $2 billion to his family...

... members over the last year, was in the news. CNBC hiding something?

[link:http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/355655-ross-transferred-2-billion-to-family-members-after-trumps-election|

[mobeau69]

24. That article is by The Hill and it's appears to be a little f'ked-up.

Seems more like a story about what Ross claimed than what Forbes confirmed. This appears to be when Ross lied to them. They may have believed him at first.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

25. Interesting spin you put up on it...

... if someone transfers $2 billion (subtracts) of their net worth to someone else (family or whoever), simple math says there is $2 billion less in their possession.

"Three months before the 2016 election, Ross’ assistant said his portfolio included $1.3 billion of municipal bonds, $1.3 billion worth of interests in general and limited partnerships, $550 million of equities, $225 million of art, $180 million in cash and $120 million in real estate.

That adds up to $3.7 billion. Last year, Forbes asked for proof of the existence of those assets but got no reply.

The magazine ultimately estimated Ross’ fortune at $2.9 billion for its annual Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, published in October."

[link:https://www.marketwatch.com/story/wilbur-ross-shifted-2-billion-to-family-trusts-before-his-confirmation-2017-10-16|

Perhaps the value of some of the investments/holdings has fluctuated.

[riversedge]

26. K and Rec.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

27. Adding a link to the article in the WaPo

How insecure do you have to be to do this?

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross ‘lied’ about his wealth to make richest Americans list, says Forbes magazine

By Fred Barbash November 8 at 5:03 AM

Updated

Forbes magazine says that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross “lied to us” about his net worth, exaggerating it by billions of dollars to make the widely cited “Forbes 400? list of richest people in America. Ross was dropped from the list for 2017 after being a presence for 13 years. ... In an article Dan Alexander posted Tuesday, Forbes said it discovered a discrepancy after examining Ross’s government financial disclosure forms, on which Ross, a Wall Street investor before President Trump put him in his Cabinet, listed his assets at $700 million.
....

In Tuesday’s article, Forbes said that “after one month of digging” Forbes is “confident” that the $2 billion “never existed. It seems clear that Ross lied to us, the latest in an apparent sequence of fibs, exaggerations, omissions, fabrications and whoppers that have been going on with Forbes since 2004.” The article went on to claim that Ross has been exaggerating his wealth for years, starting in 2004, when he led Forbes, as it was compiling its rich list, to believe he was worth “four times as much” as he was. ... It also acknowledged that “Forbes continued to largely fall for it.”

A spokesman for the department said in an emailed statement that “Secretary Ross’s disclosure documents were compiled by legal counsel and accountants. The relevant rules were followed and the documents were closely reviewed by ethics officials at the Department of Commerce and the Office of Government Ethics. We regret any earlier miscommunication.”

The Forbes article, however, did not challenge the disclosure documents. It challenged the veracity of financial information provided by Ross to the magazine. The department spokesman did not comment on that. As to the story’s description of Ross’s previous exaggerations, the statement said the “article cites former employees, without full knowledge, and all but one anonymously–we will not respond further.”
....

This story was updated to include an emailed statement from the Commerce Department.

Fred Barbash, the editor of Morning Mix, is a former National Editor and London Bureau Chief for the Washington Post. Follow @fbarbash