What Is Karl Rove's Net Worth?
Karl Rove is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist who has a net worth of $8 million. Karl Rove founded Karl Rove & Co, a company that offers consultation services in the political arena.
Rove successfully ran the campaigns of several well-known conservative politicians, including John Ashcroft, Bill Clements and President George W. Bush. Bush appointed him as his Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor, which earned him the nickname "Bush's Brain." He was incredibly influential within the Bush administration. Rove resigned on August 31, 2007.
Early Life and Education
Karl Rove was born on December 25, 1950, in Denver, Colorado. He grew up in Sparks, Nevada, as the second of five kids.
In 1965, his family relocated to Salt Lake City, where Rove attended Olympus High School and quickly made a name for himself as a talented debater. His political interests were clear from a young age. Karl was elected student council president in both his junior and senior years and served as Chairman of the Utah Federation of Teenage Republicans.
Early Political Career
Rove got into American politics in 1968 through involvement in Wallace F. Bennett's Senate re-election campaign. The following year, he enrolled at the University of Utah as a political science major, thanks to a $1,000 scholarship.
He landed an internship with the Utah Republican Party through the university's Hinckley Institute of Politics, which led him to a role in Ralph Tyler Smith's unsuccessful 1970 Senate re-election campaign in Illinois. Later that year, Rove tried to sabotage Alan J. Dixon's campaign for Treasurer of Illinois. Despite his efforts, Dixon won the election.
In June 1971, Rove dropped out of the university to work as the executive director of the College Republican National Committee. He then enrolled at the University of Maryland in College Park in the Fall of 1971.
Instead of attending classes, Karl spent his time traveling all over the country, participating as an instructor at weekend seminars for campus conservatives. On top of that, he was actively involved in Richard Nixon's 1972 presidential campaign.
Rove continued as executive director of the College Republicans until early 1973. After that, he ran for the position of National Chairman and won. He stepped down from this role in 1974 to become the Executive Assistant to Richard D. Obenshain, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC).
In 1976, Rove left Washington DC, to dive into Virginian politics. He started off as the Finance Director for the Republican Party of Virginia and discovered his love for direct mail campaigns along the way.
Texas Work
In 1977, Rove began working as a legislative aide for Fred Agnich, a Texas Republican state representative from Dallas. That same year, Karl became the first person George H. W. Bush hired for his 1980 presidential campaign.
In 1978, he orchestrated Bill Clements' win as the first Republican Governor of Texas in over a century. Following that victory, he served as the deputy director of the Governor's committee from 1979 to 1980. Then, from 1980 to 1981, he took on the role of deputy executive assistant to the Governor of Texas, which is essentially like being the Deputy Chief of Staff.
Rove founded his direct mail consulting firm, Karl Rove & Co in 1981 and ran it for almost 20 years. The firm's client roster included Texas Governor Bill Clements, future Senator Phil Gramm and tobacco giant Philip Morris. Karl led the charge in 41 statewide, congressional, and national races, and his candidates won 34 of them.
In 1994, Rove masterminded George W. Bush's successful gubernatorial campaign and his re-election campaign in 1998. The next year, Bush asked him to sell his company and take over as the chief strategist for his 2000 presidential bid.
(Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
George W. Bush Administration
George W. Bush won the 2000 US Presidential election and took office in January 2001. He brought Rove on board as his special advisor, and he quickly became known for his significant role in shaping White House policy to boost Bush's chances for re-election. Karl managed several key areas within the White House, including the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the Office of Strategic Initiatives.
In 2004, Rove took charge of President Bush's re-election campaign amidst harsh criticism from those unhappy with how he was handling the Iraq War. Once again, Karl showcased his talents as a campaign manager. He used a clever strategy called microtargeting to garner votes and secure Bush's victory.
Bush promoted Rove to deputy chief of staff in his second term. He influenced a range of affairs, from national security to economic policy. As criticism towards the Bush administration and Congress continued mounting Rove was called upon again in 2006 to help the Republican Party maintain its majority hold in Congress in the midterm elections. He failed and the Democrats gained control of both houses of Congress.
Rove found himself under investigation over many scandals including torture, the leak of a CIA agent's identity and the controversial firing of eight federal prosecutors. While he was never formally charged, the pressure kept piling, and he resigned in August 2007.
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Post-White House
After his White House exodus, "Newsweek" hired Rove to write about the 2008 presidential election. He then went on to work as a contributor for "The Wall Street Journal" and a political analyst for Fox News.
Karl was inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame in 2009 and the American Association of Political Consultants Hall of Fame in 2012.
He briefly worked as a guest professor at the University of Texas and now serves on the University of Texas Chancellor's Council Executive Committee.
Personal Life
Rove married Valerie Wainwright in 1976, but they divorced in 1980. In 1986, he married Darby Tara Hickson, and they had a son together before divorcing in 2009. In 2012, Karl married for a third time.
Real Estate
Rove bought a federal-style house in DC for $799,000 in 2001 and sold it for $1.59 million in 2009.
In 2019, Karl listed a home in Austin for $2.8 million. He appears to have sold this home at some point for an undisclosed price.
