Ohio Senator J.D. Vance has been selected as Donald Trump’s running mate for the 2024 presidential election. After Trump made the announcement at the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Monday, July 15, Vance spoke out on X (formerly Twitter). “Just overwhelmed with gratitude. What an honor it is to run alongside President Donald J. Trump,” Vance wrote. “He delivered peace and prosperity once, and with your help, he’ll do it again. Onward to victory!”
Vance, 39, made headlines after his memoir Hillbilly Elegy was published in 2016. The book chronicles his upbringing in rural Ohio in a community experiencing severe economic decline and has sold at least 1.6 million copies to date. Hillbilly Elegy was adapted into a film in 2020 and was distributed by Netflix.
The Ohio Senator ultimately was able to advance himself by enlisting in the Marine Corps directly after high school, where he served as a combat correspondent. After finishing his service, he completed a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy at Ohio State University before going on to complete a law degree at Yale University.
After initially working as a law clerk for Senator John Cornyn and judge David Bunning, Vance changed career paths to work as a venture capitalist, according to the Texas Tribune. In 2018, he and his wife Usha Chilukuri—who share three children—bought a home in Cincinnati for $1.4 million. It is now estimated to be worth $1.8 million, per Forbes. By 2021, Vance was believed to hold between $3 million and $10 million in liquid assets and venture capital holdings, according to Forbes.
In early 2023, Vance and his wife bought a second home in Alexandria, Virginia, for $1.6 million. That property is believed to be worth $1.8 million today. Forbes estimates his total real estate assets to be worth $4 million.
Interestingly, it was reportedly support from a Silicon Valley billionaire that has been especially crucial to funding Vance’s political career. Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal who Vance became close with after he was hired by the Venture Capital firm Mithril Capital which Thiel co-founded, donated $10 million to Vance’s Senatorial campaign in March 2021, helping him launch his political career. Vance’s time in the venture capital world, which gathered pace in 2015 when he joined Thiel’s company, also allowed him to make connections with other high profile individuals, including Tesla founder Elon Musk and tech entrepreneur David Sacks, per the New York Times.
According to Forbes, Vance is “worth an estimated $10 million” today. Meanwhile, the website Celebrity Net Worth, which also provides ballpark estimates of the net worths of various well-known people, estimates that Vance is worth approximately $5 million as of today.
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