Table of Contents
The quest began with a deceptively simple question: “What is the net worth of U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer?” In an era of data-driven journalism, this should have been a straightforward inquiry.
Instead, it was the first step into a labyrinth of conflicting figures, arcane financial disclosures, and complex ethical questions that lie at the heart of modern American politics.
Initial searches yielded a dizzying array of numbers.
Quiver Quantitative, a platform that tracks politicians’ investments in near real-time, estimated his wealth at a staggering $52.6 million as of June 2025.1
Conversely, OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan watchdog group, calculated his 2018 average net worth at a fraction of that, somewhere in a wide range between $3.4 million and $14.4 million.2
This vast discrepancy was not a simple error.
It was the first clue that the single “net worth” figure, the number so often sought by the public and media, was a distraction.
The real story was not about one number, but about the system that produces it and the financial machinery operating just beneath the surface.
It became clear that answering the initial question required a shift in approach—from that of a simple accountant to that of a forensic investigator.
The task was no longer to find a number, but to piece together a mosaic from a scattered evidence locker of public records, transaction reports, and political statements.
This report is the result of that investigation, an unfolding narrative that follows the money to construct a comprehensive financial profile of one of Congress’s most powerful and wealthiest members.
Part I: The Foundation – Deconstructing a Congressman’s Wealth
Before examining the specific assets and activities of Congressman Gottheimer, it is essential to understand the framework through which all congressional wealth is reported.
The system itself, governed by laws designed to promote transparency, contains structural ambiguities that make a precise calculation of any politician’s net worth nearly impossible.
Understanding these limitations is the first step in deciphering the financial puzzle.
Why the “Net Worth” Number is a Puzzle
The legal foundation for financial transparency in Congress rests on two key pieces of legislation: the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 and the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012.3
These laws mandate that members of Congress, certain staff, and candidates publicly disclose their financial holdings, income, and transactions.
While the intent is transparency, the execution creates a fog of imprecision.
The primary obstacle to a precise calculation is the reporting methodology.
Lawmakers are not required to provide exact values for their assets and liabilities.
Instead, they report them in broad ranges, such as “$1,001 – $15,000” or “$1,000,001 – $5,000,000”.4
This system immediately introduces a significant margin of error into any net worth calculation.
An asset reported in the highest bracket could be worth $5,000,001 or $50,000,000, a difference that renders any single-point estimate inherently speculative.
Furthermore, the disclosure rules contain significant exemptions that leave major components of a person’s wealth completely hidden from public view.
Most notably, members are not required to report the value of their primary residence, unless it is used to generate rental income.4
Federal retirement accounts are also excluded from disclosure requirements.4
This means that any publicly available net worth figure is, by definition, an undercount of an individual’s total wealth.
The Investigators: How Net Worth is Estimated
Given these limitations, organizations that track congressional finances have developed distinct methodologies to arrive at their estimates.
The differences in their approaches explain the wide variance in figures reported for Congressman Gottheimer and reveal crucial details about his investment strategy.
Methodology 1: The OpenSecrets Approach (The Conservative Snapshot)
OpenSecrets, a respected nonpartisan research group, employs a conservative and static methodology grounded directly in the annual disclosure filings.6
Their process involves summing the minimum possible values of all reported assets and liabilities to establish a floor, and summing the maximum values to establish a ceiling.
The result is a wide potential range for the individual’s net worth.
For ranking and comparison purposes, they then calculate the midpoint, or average, of this range.5
This method provides a reliable, evidence-based baseline, but it is a snapshot in time, reflecting the filer’s finances only as of the end of the previous calendar year.
For example, OpenSecrets calculated Gottheimer’s 2017 net worth to be approximately $5.6 million.8
Methodology 2: The Quiver Quantitative Approach (The Live Market Tracker)
Quiver Quantitative utilizes a more dynamic and technologically advanced model.
It is an alternative data platform that aims to provide retail investors with insights typically reserved for institutional players.9
Instead of a static snapshot, Quiver takes the assets disclosed in official filings and uses them as a starting point.
It then tracks the real-time market performance of these publicly traded assets, primarily stocks and ETFs, to generate a live, fluctuating estimate of the portfolio’s value.1
The enormous gap between OpenSecrets’ historical figures and Quiver’s live estimates is not a contradiction but a critical insight into Congressman Gottheimer’s financial strategy.
OpenSecrets provides the disclosed foundation of his wealth—the principal he started with.
Quiver’s model reveals what that foundation has become through market forces.
The dramatic upward trajectory of Quiver’s estimate over time—from figures in the low tens of millions to over $50 million—indicates that Gottheimer’s wealth is not sitting in static or low-yield assets.
It is heavily concentrated in high-growth equities, particularly in the technology sector, which have significantly outperformed the broader market during his tenure in Congress.
When viewed together, the two methodologies paint a clear picture: a wealthy individual entered Congress and, through an aggressive, growth-oriented investment strategy, became substantially wealthier.
Part II: The Evidence – A Forensic Analysis of the Gottheimer Portfolio
Moving from the theoretical framework to the concrete evidence requires a forensic examination of Congressman Gottheimer’s own financial records.
These documents, filed under penalty of law, provide the blueprint for his financial empire, track its explosive growth, and reveal a pattern of financial activity that is remarkable for a sitting member of Congress.
The Blueprint: The 2017 Annual Disclosure
Congressman Gottheimer’s 2017 annual financial disclosure, his first as a member of Congress, serves as the foundational document for this investigation.11
A detailed analysis of this report, amended in late 2018, establishes the baseline of his wealth and the sophisticated structure of his investments.11
The portfolio detailed in the report is extensive and complex.
Its core is built upon significant holdings in major American corporations, with a clear and heavy concentration in two sectors: technology and finance.
Key assets included:
- Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): A cornerstone holding valued between $1,000,001 and $5,000,000 in a single Fidelity brokerage account, which generated between $50,001 and $100,000 in dividends that year.11
- Other Tech Giants: Significant investments in Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Facebook (now Meta), and Alphabet (Google) were spread across various accounts.11
- Financial Institutions: Holdings in Morgan Stanley (MS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Goldman Sachs (GS) demonstrated a deep investment in the financial sector he helps oversee.11
Beyond these individual stocks, the portfolio showed a sophisticated, multi-layered approach to wealth management.
It included numerous Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) like the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), mutual funds from firms like Fidelity and Blackrock, and a variety of state and municipal bonds.11
Crucially, the vast majority of these assets were held in a web of accounts at Morgan Stanley, including multiple “Select UMA” (Unified Managed Account) and “Portfolio Management” accounts.
Many of these were designated as jointly owned (“JT”), indicating shared assets with his spouse.11
This structure of professionally managed accounts is a critical detail that becomes central to the later controversy surrounding his trading activity and promises of ethical firewalls.
On the other side of the ledger, his disclosed liabilities were primarily composed of two large mortgages: one on his New Jersey residential property, valued between $1,000,001 and $5,000,000, and another on a rental property in Washington, D.C., valued between $250,001 and $500,000.11
The Growth Trajectory: From Millions to Megamillions
With the 2017 disclosure as a baseline, the trajectory of Congressman Gottheimer’s wealth during his time in office has been nothing short of meteoric.
While he entered Congress as a millionaire, the data shows he has become one of its wealthiest members, with his fortune multiplying several times over.
The following table synthesizes data from multiple sources to illustrate this dramatic growth.
| Year | Source | Estimated Net Worth / Range | Rank in Congress (Approx.) |
| 2017 | OpenSecrets | $5,607,677 (Average) | 85th (House) 8 |
| 2018 | OpenSecrets | $3,442,330 to $14,428,999 | 41st 2 |
| April 2025 | Quiver Quantitative | $47,300,000 (Live Estimate) | 24th 12 |
| May 2025 | Quiver Quantitative | $50,400,000 (Live Estimate) | 23rd 13 |
| June 2025 | Quiver Quantitative | $52,600,000 (Live Estimate) | 25th 1 |
The table starkly visualizes the story.
The conservative, range-based estimates from OpenSecrets show a wealthy but not extraordinary member of Congress in his early years.
However, the live-tracked estimates from Quiver Quantitative, which reflect the market performance of his tech-heavy portfolio, show an explosion of wealth, vaulting him into the top echelon of the wealthiest members of Congress.
The Money in Motion: A Prolific Congressional Trader
The story of Congressman Gottheimer’s wealth is not merely one of passive appreciation.
An analysis of his Periodic Transaction Reports (PTRs)—disclosures required by the STOCK Act for trades made during the year—reveals him to be one of the most active and high-volume traders in the U.S. Congress.14
While his annual reports provide a static picture, the PTRs show money in constant motion.
Filings from 2023 and 2024 show a relentless flurry of buying and selling across dozens of companies, with hundreds of trades executed each year.16
This pattern of activity is far from the “buy and hold” strategy of a passive investor.
It depicts a portfolio under intense, active management, with frequent adjustments, profit-taking, and reinvestment.
The scale of these transactions is often immense.
His filings document numerous trades in the six- and seven-figure range, particularly involving his cornerstone asset, Microsoft.
For instance:
- A sale of Microsoft stock valued between $1,000,001 and $5,000,000 was reported in a filing from March 2024, with the transaction occurring in February 2024.18
- Another sale of Microsoft stock, this time for up to $5,000,000, was reported in June 2025.1
- His filings are also replete with complex options trades on Microsoft stock, with some transactions valued in the $1,000,001 to $5,000,000 range.17
This constant, high-volume trading activity is a crucial piece of the puzzle.
It stands in stark contrast to the public image of a lawmaker singularly focused on policy.
The sheer scale and frequency of the trading raise questions about the amount of attention and management his personal finances require.
This behavior is not that of an individual who has simply placed their assets with a manager and forgotten about them; it is the hallmark of a highly active, aggressive, and closely monitored investment machine.
Part III: The Controversy – Promises, Delays, and a Question of Trust
The rapid accumulation of wealth and the prolific trading activity by a sitting member of Congress with oversight of the financial industry inevitably led to public scrutiny and controversy.
At the center of this controversy is a public promise of ethical conduct that, years later, remains unfulfilled, creating a significant gap between his public posture and his private financial practices.
The Blind Trust Paradox
As the debate over congressional stock trading intensified nationally, Congressman Gottheimer took a public stand.
In a statement released on February 28, 2022, he announced he was co-sponsoring the bipartisan TRUST in Congress Act, legislation that would require members to place their investment assets into a qualified blind trust.19
In that same statement, he made a personal commitment: “Now, I am taking the extra step of setting up a blind trust”.19
This was a clear and unambiguous promise to the public to erect the highest possible ethical wall between his official duties and his personal investments.
However, reporting by POLITICO in October 2024 revealed that, more than two and a half years after this public vow, the blind trust had not been established.20
Congressman Gottheimer, along with his Republican colleague Rep. Tom Kean Jr., continued to actively trade while their promises remained unfulfilled.
The official explanation provided by Gottheimer’s office is that the request has been pending with the House Ethics Committee for years, caught in bureaucratic delays.20
This explanation is critically undermined by the contrasting experience of his former colleague, Rep. Tom Malinowski.
After facing political attacks over his own stock trades, Malinowski successfully established a fully approved blind trust in a matter of “several months”.20
The fact that another member navigated the same process in a fraction of the time casts significant doubt on the “bureaucratic delay” defense and suggests that completing the process is possible for those who prioritize it.
This situation highlights a crucial, often misunderstood distinction that Gottheimer has used to his advantage: the difference between a “managed account” and a “qualified blind trust.” Throughout his time in Congress, he has repeatedly stated that his assets are managed by a “third party” and that he is “hands-off”.15
While technically true, this is a semantic shield.
A privately managed account, even one where the manager has discretion, is not a blind trust under the stringent definition of the Ethics in Government Act.22
In a managed account, the owner can still set the overarching investment strategy, receive detailed statements of holdings and transactions, and communicate with the financial advisor.
A qualified blind trust, by contrast, is an irrevocable arrangement, approved by the House Ethics Committee, where the official and their spouse have no knowledge of or control over the assets within it.
The trustee must be independent, and communication is severely restricted.
By conflating these two very different arrangements, Gottheimer has created a public impression of ethical insulation that does not legally or practically exist.
The core of the controversy is not just the trading itself, but the failure to follow through on a public promise to adopt the highest ethical standard, all while his wealth and trading volume continued to grow.
The STOCK Act Violation
Adding to the ethical questions, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), citing a report from Business Insider, alleged in August 2022 that Congressman Gottheimer had violated the federal STOCK Act by failing to properly disclose a transaction in a timely manner.14
The STOCK Act’s power as a transparency tool is entirely dependent on timely and accurate reporting.
Any failure to comply, even if on a single transaction, erodes the integrity of the disclosure system and provides potent ammunition for political opponents, further fueling public skepticism about the financial activities of lawmakers.
Part IV: The Nexus – Where Wealth Meets Power
Congressman Gottheimer’s financial portfolio does not exist in a vacuum.
It is deeply intertwined with his political career, his fundraising prowess, and his influential position within the U.S. House of Representatives.
An analysis of this nexus reveals a self-reinforcing loop where financial power begets political power, which in turn provides access and influence over the very sectors that fuel his personal wealth.
The Fundraising Juggernaut
From the outset of his political career, Gottheimer established himself as a fundraising powerhouse.
In his first campaign in 2016, he raised $4.3 million, breaking the record for a New Jersey federal House race.23
His fundraising momentum continued once in office; in his first three months as a freshman, he raised $752,000, another New Jersey record.23
This ability to raise vast sums of money has continued throughout his tenure.
FEC disclosures show him with a massive campaign war chest, with reports citing figures as high as $11.3 million in cash on hand and a total “ginormous warchest” of $20.3 million.1
This financial dominance solidifies his political power, deters challengers, and allows him to exert influence within his party.
His political launch was significantly aided by strong financial backing from the Clinton network, where he had previously worked as a speechwriter.23
The Committee-Portfolio Overlap
The intersection of wealth and power becomes most apparent when examining Congressman Gottheimer’s committee assignments in the context of his investment portfolio.
He holds positions on some of the most powerful committees in the House, including the House Financial Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.2
This creates a powerful feedback loop.
His personal wealth and connections within the financial industry make him a uniquely effective fundraiser from that sector.
This fundraising prowess helps secure his political standing and influential committee assignments.
These assignments, in turn, place him in a position to oversee and legislate on the very industries—banking, capital markets, financial technology, and national security—where his personal fortune is most heavily invested.
While there is no evidence of illegal activity, this dynamic creates a potent and unavoidable potential for conflicts of interest.
A lawmaker who is one of Congress’s most active traders holds a personal stake in the performance of the financial and tech companies that his committees oversee.
This reality makes the need for ethical guardrails, like the blind trust he promised but has not delivered, all the more critical for maintaining public trust.
The situation is layered with irony, as Gottheimer himself has taken a public stance against potential insider trading, such as when he helped lead a call for the SEC to investigate transactions surrounding a government loan to Eastman Kodak.25
Conclusion: A Portrait of Wealth in the U.S. Congress
The forensic investigation into Congressman Josh Gottheimer’s finances reveals a picture far more complex than a single net worth figure.
The final verdict is that his wealth is not a static number but a dynamic, rapidly expanding financial ecosystem, conservatively estimated to be well over $50 million.1
This fortune is built on a sophisticated and aggressively managed portfolio heavily concentrated in the technology and finance sectors, and it has grown exponentially during his years of public service.
The evidence trail, drawn from his own disclosures, tells a clear story:
- Massive Wealth Accumulation: He entered Congress a millionaire and has since joined the ranks of its wealthiest members, with his net worth multiplying several times over.
- Prolific, High-Stakes Trading: He is one of the most active traders in Congress, with a portfolio characterized by high turnover and frequent multi-million dollar transactions.
- An Unfulfilled Ethical Promise: A stark contradiction exists between his public vow in 2022 to establish a qualified blind trust—the gold standard of ethical firewalls—and the reality that, years later, the promise remains unfulfilled while his active trading continues.
- A Powerful Nexus of Wealth and Influence: His personal wealth, fundraising dominance, and powerful committee assignments are deeply intertwined, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of financial and political power that carries the inherent risk of conflicts of interest.
The Gottheimer dossier should not be viewed as a wholly unique case, but rather as a revealing portrait of the complex and often fraught relationship between personal wealth and public service in 21st-century America.
It raises fundamental and urgent questions about transparency, accountability, and whether the existing ethical frameworks, designed for a different era, are sufficient to manage the conflicts that arise when one of Congress’s most powerful financial legislators is also one of its most active market participants.
The story is not just about one man’s fortune, but about the trust between the governed and those who govern.
Works cited
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- Rep. Josh Gottheimer – New Jersey District 05 – OpenSecrets, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/other-data?cid=N00036944&cycle=2024
- Financial Disclosure Reports – Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/FinancialDisclosure
- Household net worth (Member of Congress) – Ballotpedia, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://ballotpedia.org/Household_net_worth_(Member_of_Congress)
- Methodology – Personal FinancesPersonal Finances – OpenSecrets, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://www.opensecrets.org/personal-finances/methodology
- OpenSecrets, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://www.opensecrets.org/
- Top Net Worth – 2009 – Personal FinancesPersonal Finances – OpenSecrets, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://www.opensecrets.org/personal-finances/top-net-worth?type=W&year=2009
- Josh Gottheimer- Net Worth – Personal Finances – OpenSecrets, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://www.opensecrets.org/personal-finances/josh-gottheimer/net-worth?cid=N00036944&year=2017
- Quiver Quantitative review – AltIndex, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://altindex.com/reviews/quiverquant
- Quiver Quantitative Reviews: Worth It for Retail Investors in 2025? – WallStreetZen, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://www.wallstreetzen.com/blog/quiver-quantitative-review/
- financial DiScloSure rePort – Public Disclosure – House.gov, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/financial-pdfs/2017/10024967.pdf
- Net Worth Update: Representative Josh Gottheimer Lost an Estimated $2.1M in the Stock Market Last Month | Nasdaq, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/net-worth-update-representative-josh-gottheimer-lost-estimated-21m-stock-market-last-month
- Net Worth Update: Representative Josh Gottheimer Made an Estimated $2.3M in the Stock Market Last Month | Nasdaq, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/net-worth-update-representative-josh-gottheimer-made-estimated-23m-stock-market-last-month
- Gottheimer violates the STOCK Act – NRCC, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://www.nrcc.org/2022/08/17/gottheimer-violates-the-stock-act/
- Rep. Gottheimer: Lawmakers shouldn’t be directly involved in stock trading – YouTube, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OVuj8MRCIc
- P T R – House.gov, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/ptr-pdfs/2024/20024248.pdf
- P T R – House.gov, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/ptr-pdfs/2023/20023087.pdf
- P T R – House.gov, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/ptr-pdfs/2024/20024612.pdf
- Statement: Gottheimer Statement on Cosponsoring Spanberger’s Bipartisan “Trust in Congress Act” to Ban Member Stock Trading, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://gottheimer.house.gov/posts/statement-gottheimer-statement-on-cosponsoring-spanbergers-bipartisan-trust-in-congress-act-to-ban-member-stock-trading
- New Jersey Reps. Kean and Gottheimer still don’t have blind trusts years after promising to set them up – POLITICO Pro, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2024/10/years-after-promising-kean-and-gottheimer-still-dont-have-blind-trusts-00182151
- The Kean-Gottheimer blind trust bind – POLITICO, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-jersey-playbook/2024/10/03/the-kean-gottheimer-blind-trust-bind-00182297
- Financial Disclosure – U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://www.ethics.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/financialdisclosure
- Josh Gottheimer – Wikipedia, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Gottheimer
- Gottheimer’s ginormous warchest at $20.3 million : r/newjersey – Reddit, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://www.reddit.com/r/newjersey/comments/1fzxjzb/gottheimers_ginormous_warchest_at_203_million/
- Gottheimer Helps Lead Financial Services Call Urging SEC Investigation into Kodak — Concerning Insider Trading of Defense Production Act Deal —— Questions Swirl About Kodak’s Readiness to Address Virus, accessed on July 26, 2025, https://gottheimer.house.gov/posts/gottheimer-helps-lead-financial-services-call-urging-sec-investigation-into-kodak-concerning-insider-trading-of-defense-production-act-deal-questions-swirl-about-kodaks-readiness
