When most people think about the highest-paid people in regular society, there are two groups of people that come to mind first, doctors and lawyers. Of course, it should go without saying that lawyers who take on high-profile clients are the ones who cash in the most. Given the fact that lawyers make so much money, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that a lot of judges get to cash in as well.
In the United States, there is one group of judges that matters more than the rest, the nine Supreme Court Justices. Despite that, there are loads of people who know next to nothing about most of the Justices. For example, most people have absolutely no idea how much money America's nine Supreme Court Justices are worth. For that reason, when Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away in 2020, her net worth was a mystery which means that the majority of people have no idea how much her daughter inherited.
How Ruth Bader Ginsburg Made Her Fortune
When it comes to most celebrities, it is incredibly obvious where their money comes from. For example, lists of the highest-paid actors in the world are released annually which allows fans to have a pretty good idea of how much the biggest movie stars make. On the other hand, when it comes to most politicians, the average person has no idea where their money comes from aside from their base salaries. Similarly, most people know very little about how much money America’s Supreme Court Justices make.
From the moment that Ruth Bader Ginsburg became a Supreme Court Justice in 1993 until her passing in 2020, she was one of the most important figures in America’s legal system. For that reason, it would have been extremely unacceptable if she took any financial rewards that could be connected to the cases she and her colleagues presided over. In order to make sure that kind of thing didn’t happen, Supreme Court Justices have to file financial disclosure documents annually. That way anyone in the general public can make sure the Justices haven’t become corrupt.
During Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life, she managed to become a truly beloved figure in a lot of circles. While it is important to note that Ginsburg had a lot of detractors as well, she easily could have attempted to make money off the people who adored her. Thanks to her financial disclosures, however, it is clear that aside from making $204,000 from royalties from Ginsburg’s book “My Own Words”, she never made any money from the general public.
On at least a couple of occasions, Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave up the opportunity to enrich herself. For example, when a major documentary about Ginsburg’s life was produced, she was interviewed for the project but didn’t take any money for her involvement. More remarkably than that, when she was awarded the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy & Culture and the $1 million prize that comes along with it, Ginsburg donated the money to charity.
Despite passing on the opportunity to take home a fortune, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a wealthy woman by the time she passed away. Based on her financial disclosures, it is clear that Ginsburg amassed her fortune mainly through a combination of her $235,000 Supreme Court salary and savvy investments.
How Much Money Ruth Bader Ginsburg Left Her Daughter Jane
During Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life, she eschewed publically speaking on topics like her personal fortune. For that reason, there is no way for anyone to know exactly how much money the Supreme Court Justice was worth at the time of her passing. That said, people who’ve poured over Ginsburg’s financial disclosure forms have concluded that she was worth between $4 million and $9 million when her life came to an end.
By the time Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away, her adoring husband of more than fifty years predeceased her by roughly a decade. As a result, Ginsburg left almost all of her estate to her two children, Jane and James. However, many people were surprised to learn that Ginsburg left some money to a third person.
According to news reports, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s housekeeper Elizabeth Salas worked for the Supreme Court Justice for more than two decades. On top of working for the Justice, Salas reportedly became so close to Ginsburg that she was seated at the front of Ruth’s funeral beside President Biden. With that in mind, it makes perfect sense that Ginsburg left $40,000 behind for Salas. Assuming that estimates of Ruth’s fortune at the time of her passing are accurate, that means that Jane and James Ginsburg inherited between $1.98 million and $4.48 million from their mom.