What Is Michelle Obama's Net Worth and Salary?
Michelle Obama is an American lawyer, writer, and former First Lady of the United States. Michelle Obama and her husband, Barack Obama, have a combined net worth of $70 million.
After graduating from Harvard Law School, Michelle Obama worked at the law firm Sidley Austin in Chicago, where she specialized in marketing and intellectual property. Her work in law was notable, but she soon transitioned to focus more on community outreach and engagement.
She served as the Assistant Commissioner of Planning and Development for the City of Chicago, where she worked on affordable housing initiatives. Later, she became the founding Executive Director of the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, a non-profit leadership training program that helped young people pursue careers in the public sector.
Michelle continued to work in healthcare and community engagement as the Vice President of Community and External Affairs for the University of Chicago Medical Center. Her work there involved creating programs to promote volunteerism and community outreach.
As First Lady, Obama focused on issues close to her heart, such as education, military families, healthy eating, and poverty awareness. Her "Let's Move!" campaign aimed to reduce childhood obesity and encourage a healthy lifestyle in children. The campaign included efforts to improve school lunches, promote physical activity, and provide families with better food information.
She also launched the "Joining Forces" initiative with Dr. Jill Biden, supporting military families and veterans, and the "Reach Higher" initiative, encouraging young people to pursue higher education and career training.
Michelle's memoir, "Becoming," published in 2018, became a bestseller and offered an intimate look into her life, beliefs, and experiences. Her book tour turned into a global conversation about empowerment, self-discovery, and resilience.
Post-White House, she continues to work on issues she championed as First Lady through the Obama Foundation. With her husband, Barack Obama, she has entered into a multi-year production deal with Netflix to produce various scripted and unscripted series, documentaries, and features.
Early Life
Michelle Obama was born Michelle LaVaughn Robinson on January 17, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois. Michelle grew up in the South Shore community area. Her father suffered from multiple sclerosis, which was hard on her emotionally, so she threw herself into her studies and was a hardworking student. She graduated from Whitney Young High School in 1981 and was the salutatorian of her class. She attended Princeton University, where she majored in sociology and minored in African-American studies, and she graduated cum laude in 1985.
While she was at Princeton, she became heavily involved with an academic and cultural group called The Third World Center, which supported minority students. Michelle went on to earn a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1988. At Harvard, she worked for the Harvard Legal Bureau in assisting low-income tenants with housing cases. Michelle Obama is the third First Lady to have earned a postgraduate degree.
Post-Law School
Michelle's father passed away in 1991, and a close friend died from cancer during this time as well. She has said that these deaths at a crucial time in her career made her think about her contributions to society. Following law school, she worked at a Chicago law firm where she met her husband, future President Barack Obama. Their relationship began with a business lunch, and later, they grew closer at a community organization meeting. Initially, she refused to date Barack, believing that their work relationship would make the romance improper. Eventually, she relented, and the couple eventually fell in love, marrying on October 3, 1992. The Obamas lived on the South Side of Chicago. Michelle left her job to launch a career in public service, serving as an assistant to Mayor Daley and then as the assistant commissioner of planning and development for the City of Chicago. In 1993, she became executive director for the Chicago Office of Public Allies, a nonprofit leadership training program that helped young adults develop skills for future careers in the public sector. Michelle joined the University of Chicago in 1996 as Associate Dean of Student Services, developing the university's first community service program.
She then worked for the University of Chicago Hospitals, beginning in 2002 as Executive Director of Community Relations and External Affairs. Meanwhile, Barack was elected to the State Senate in 1996 and to the US Senate in 2004. They chose to stay in Chicago versus move to Washington, D.C., as they felt it would be better for their daughters to keep them in their school. In May 2005, Michelle was appointed Vice President for Community and External Affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Center, where she continued to work part-time until shortly before her husband's inauguration as President of the United States in 2009. She serves as a board member for the prestigious Chicago Council on Global Affairs. After her husband was elected President, she put her own career ambitions on the back burner to serve as First Lady.
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First Lady
Michelle Obama served as First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. Initially, Michelle was a reluctant campaigner on her husband's behalf. She did not enjoy the activity but would shake hands and fundraise anyway. Michelle also had reservations about Barack's desire to run for president as she thought it would be difficult on their young children. During campaign speeches, she often discussed race, education, and motherhood. Barack Obama was elected President on November 4, 2008, and was reelected in 2012.
During her first few months as First Lady, Obama often visited soup kitchens and homeless shelters and advocated for young people to do more public service. She hosted White House receptions for women's rights advocates and supported the economic stimulus bill. She stated that her four primary initiatives as First Lady: Let's Move, Reach Higher, Let Girls Learn, and Joining Forces. Obama also advocated on behalf of military families and encouraged national service. Michelle strongly advocated for working mothers to have a better balance between career and family. The Obamas were awarded the Jerald Washington Memorial Founders' Award by the National Homeless Coalition for Veterans in April 2012. Michelle was given the award again in May 2015, along with Jill Biden.
Michelle is also known for her work in addressing obesity and establishing good eating habits in children. She called for more nutritious school lunches and launched the Let's Move! Campaign. Obama was also very active in advocating for LGBTQ rights. Outside of her political and humanitarian work, Michelle was known during her time as First Lady for her style and superb fashion sense.
Family Life
Michelle and Barack Obama were married on October 3, 1992. Michelle suffered a miscarriage and underwent in vitro fertilization to conceive their daughter, Malia Ann, in 1998. The couple also did in vitro to conceive their daughter Sasha in 2001. When the family moved to Washington, D.C., following Barack's Presidential win, the girls attended Sidwell Friends School. Michelle's mother, Marian Robinson, famously moved into the White House with the family to help with child care.
Michelle Obama Book Advance and Royalties
In February 2017, Barack and Michelle Obama received a $65 million advance for the combined rights to their autobiographies plus one more (three books total). Her 2018 book "Becoming" sold 750,000 copies on its first day alone. As of this writing, the book has sold more than 10 million copies.
Income History
| The Obama Family Income History | |
| Year | Income |
| 2000 | $240,000 |
| 2001 | $272,759 |
| 2002 | $259,394 |
| 2003 | $238,327 |
| 2004 | $207,647 |
| 2005 | $1,655,106 |
| 2006 | $983,826 |
| 2007 | $4,139,965 |
| 2008 | $2,656,902 |
| 2009 | $5,505,409 |
| 2010 | $1,728,096 |
| 2011 | $789,674 |
| 2012 | $662,076 |
| 2013 | $481,098 |
| 2014 | $477,383 |
| 2015 | $436,065 |
| 2016 | ? |
| 2017 | At least $65,000,000 |
| Total | $85,733,727 |
Barack and Michelle Obama Real Estate
In August 2000, Barack and Michelle purchased a $1.6 million home in Kenwood, Illinois, in the Chicago suburbs. The Obama home is 6,400 square feet with six bedrooms, six bathrooms, mahogany bookshelves, a granite kitchen floor, and a wine cellar:
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Upon leaving office, Barack and Michelle rented a mansion in Washington, D.C., while their youngest daughter finished high school. In June 2017, they spent $8.1 million to buy the 8,200-square-foot rental.
Martha's Vineyard Property
In 2019, the Obamas paid $11.75 million for a house on Martha's Vineyard. The property has a 7,000-square-foot main home and 29 oceanfront acres of land. The seller of the property was Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck.
Here's how the home's official listing described it:
"The spacious and dramatic living room space boasts vaulted ceilings with exposed steel beams and a focal point stone fireplace. There are two guest wings and an impressive master suite with a fireplace, a private sun deck, and spectacular water views. Your summer days can be spent poolside in a garden-like setting with the sounds of the waves lapping in the distance or exploring the expansive Great Pond and outer barrier beach for a full day on the water. A property of this stature needs to be seen to be experienced."
The house has not just one, but two guest wings, interestingly, though, only a two-car garage, which means that any long-term guests (like, for example, Sasha and Malia) will have to find someplace else to park. It does, however, have plenty of private beachfront, including a boathouse.
The Obamas had been renting the property as a summer home, and evidently, they loved their time there enough to make an offer to buy the house.
