North Dakota Senator John Hoeven Among 50 Richest Members Of Congress Again

It’s not secret that North Dakota Senator John Hoeven has been very, very successful in life. He comes from a banking family, serving as an executive in the banking business before his political career, and since then he’s done very well with investments.

So well, in fact, that he’s ranked as the 28th richest member in Congress after adding about $1 million in net worth over the last year. But despite that increase in wealth, Hoeven actually dropped two places in the rankings with his fellow national legislators.

According to Roll Call’s data, Hoeven has a net worth of about $15.16 million, up from $14.21 million last year.

Here’s what they have to say about North Dakota’s senior Senator and his money:

Hoeven, a successful bank president before entering politics, continues to be a savvy investor as he increased his net worth by almost a million dollars over the past year to $15.1 million.

The North Dakotan’s two largest holdings are the same as in 2013: at least $5 million in stock of Westbrand Inc. Bank Holding Co., based in Minot, N.D., that produced at least $100,000 in dividends, and at least $5 million in the Minnesota medical equipment company Northwest Respiratory Services LLC, which produced $2.3 million in income.

Hoeven is an active trader and holds an array of blue-chip stocks, including at least $100,000 in McDonald’s, Microsoft, Intel, Johnson and Johnson, General Mills and Coca-Cola stock. He has a financial interest in high-end fashion with at least $100,000 in Coach stock and $50,000 in Ralph Lauren stock. And closer to his North Dakota roots, the Senate Agriculture Committee member owns at least $100,000 in John Deere stock.

His largest investment over the past year was $500,000 in Mainstream Investors LLC, a North Dakota company created in 2012 to provide capital for the state’s exploding oil and national gas production operations. He also made at least $100,000 when Berkshire Hathaway acquired HJ Heinz and brought out its stockholders.

Hoeven remains a director of the First Western Bank in Minot where he began his banking career in the 1980s. He’s due to receive a monthly pension of $837.74 from the bank when he retires and still maintains a checking account there with at least a million dollars in it.

Some people – usually the class warriors among us – tend to get wrapped around the axel about this sort of thing. I’m not sure why. Successful people tend to be wealthy. It seems to me that successful people are the sort of people we want running the country, generally speaking anyway.

I will say that what does worry me isn’t so much politicians who are rich and then get elected, but politicians who get rich after they get elected.