What is Rod Blagojevich's Net Worth?
Rod Blagojevich is an American former politician who has a net worth of $100 thousand. He is the former Governor of Illinois and a convicted felon. Rod Blagojevich served 8 years of a 14 year sentence for soliciting a bribe. His sentence was commuted four years early in February 2020 by President Donald Trump.
Blagojevich served as member of the United States House of Representatives for Illinois' 5th district from 1997 to 2003. In 2003 he became the 40th Governor of Illinois. He served until 2009. He served as a Democrat and was the first to win Illinois Governor in 30 years. He was convicted of corruption which included soliciting bribes for political appointments. Those appointments included the 2008 vacant U.S. Senate seat that belonged to Barack Obama who had recently been elected President.
Rod was arrested by federal agents under the direction of the US Attorney. He was impeached by the Illinois House and Senate in 2009. Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years Federal Correctional Institution in Englewood in Colorado.
Early Life and Education
Rod Blagojevich was born on December 10, 1956 in Chicago, Illinois to Serbian immigrants Radislav and Mila. He has an older brother named Rob. As a youth, Blagojevich took on a number of odd jobs to help his family financially, including as a shoeshiner, pizza delivery boy, and meat packer. For his education, he went to Lane Technical High School before transferring to Foreman High School. Blagojevich went on to attend the University of Tampa for two years. He subsequently transferred to Northwestern University, from which he graduated with a BA in history in 1979. Following that, Blagojevich enrolled at the Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California, earning his JD in 1983.
Career Beginnings
Blagojevich began his career in politics clerking for Chicago alderman Edward Vrdolyak. After that, he became an assistant prosecutor under Richard M. Daley. In 1992, Blagojevich was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in the 33rd state house district. Instead of seeking reelection four years later, he ran for Illinois' 5th congressional district in the US House of Representatives, a race he handily won. Blagojevich went on to be reelected two additional times.
Governor of Illinois
In 2002, Blagojevich launched his campaign for governor of Illinois. Substantially aided by the influence of his well-connected father-in-law, alderman Richard Mell, he won the general election by defeating Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan. Blagojevich was reelected in 2006, beating state treasurer Judy Baar Topinka.
During his gubernatorial tenure, Blagojevich signed a number of progressive pieces of legislation. These included a death penalty reform, a statewide smoking ban, and a state Earned Income Tax Credit, as well as expansions of health programs such as KidCare. He also signed a bill prohibiting employers and other authorities from discriminating based on sexual orientation. However, Blagojevich was also criticized for his state spending proposals and his often contentious relationships with other lawmakers.
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Impeachment, Conviction, and Imprisonment
In December of 2008, Blagojevich was arrested by federal agents at his home; he was charged with corruption for threatening to halt the state's dealings with Bank of America over a shuttered factory in Chicago. Moreover, he was accused of conspiring to commit a number of pay-to-play schemes, including using bribery to assume the US Senate seat vacated by newly elected President Barack Obama. One of the most damning pieces of evidence was an FBI recording of Blagojevich saying:
"I've got this thing, and it's fucking golden. I'm just not giving it up for fucking nothing."
In January of 2009, he was impeached by the Illinois House with a vote of 114-1. Blagojevich was subsequently removed from office and barred from ever again holding public office in Illinois.
Blagojevich was indicted in April of 2009 by a federal grand jury. Later, in August of 2010, he was convicted of lying to the FBI, with his 23 other federal charges resulting in hung verdicts. During the retrial in 2011, Blagojevich was found guilty of 17 additional charges, including conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. He was sentenced to federal prison in March of 2012. As an inmate, Blagojevich served as the lead singer of a prison band called the Jailhouse Rockers. Ultimately, he served eight years in prison until his sentence was commuted by Donald rump in 2020.
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Media Endeavors
Following his removal from office in 2009, Blagojevich starred in the musical "Rod Blagojevich Superstar," a production by the Chicago improv group the Second City. He also began hosting a weekly radio talk show on the local 890 WLS. Later in the year, he released his autobiography "The Governor: The Truth Behind the Political Scandal That Continues to Rock the Nation." In 2010, Blagojevich competed on the ninth season of the reality television competition series "The Celebrity Apprentice." After he was released from prison in 2020, he returned to WLS radio to begin a political podcast called "The Lightning Rod."
Marriage
With his wife Patricia, Blagojevich has two daughters. The daughter of former Chicago alderman Richard Mell, Patricia served as the First Lady of Illinois when her husband served as governor. In 2009, following her husband's impeachment and removal, she competed on the reality television show "I'm a Celebrity… Get Me out of Here!"
