Bush Discloses Finances

Texas Gov. George W. Bush reported today that he earned between $1.7 million and $9.7 million last year, mostly from selling his interests in oil, gas, real estate and a professional baseball team.
The early front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination also reported to the Federal Election Commission that he received a $106,250 advance for an unspecified book that he plans to donate to youth charities.

The financial disclosure report, required of all presidential candidates, shows that the son of former President George Bush is a member of a relatively small group - millionaires.

The younger Bush reported no debts and listed a diversified trust valued at between $1 million and $5 million as his largest asset. He also reported owning more than a half million dollars in U.S. Treasury notes.

Bush also disclosed three checking accounts valued at between $3,000 and $45,000 as well as a few thousand dollars in stocks in high-tech companies like computer chip maker Intel, software giant Microsoft and communications company Lucent Technologies.

He also reported owning two money market accounts with a total value between $600,000 and $1.25 million.

The disclosure reports require candidates only to describe income and assets in broad ranges.

Bush described his largest source of income as capital gains from his sale of his interest in the Texas Rangers professional baseball team. He estimated his income from that sale between $1 million and $5 million.

In addition to his $97,890 governor's salary, Bush also listed:

• Capital gains income of between $100,000 and $1 million from Crescent Real Estate Equities.
• Capital gains income of $100,000 to $1 million from Advance Paradigm.
• Capital gains income of between $50,000 and $100,000 from GFW Energy LP.
• A book advance of $106,250 that he said was donated directly to the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and other youth charities.

Bush raised more than $36 million in the first half of 1999, shattering political fund-raising records and shocking the less fortunate field of Republican rivals chasing the surging front-runner.

The remarkable total, which caught Republican and Democratic operatives by surprise, is nearly 10 times as much as his closest Republican rival and twice as much as Vice President Al Gore, who has only one Democratic rival and the power of the White House political machine behind him.

Bush, who already holds an overwhelming lead in Republican polls, is virtually certain to forgo federal matching money in the primary season, aides said. The historic step would put him at a great advantage in the Republican primary season and potentially help him if he wins the nomination.

The Bush campaign said it had raised $28.3 million in the second quarter of 1999, bringing its fund-raising total for the first half of the year to $36,250,000. That surpasses the $32 million that 1996 GOP presidential nominee Bob Dol raised for his entire campaign. Bush did it in less than four months.

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