Caroline Kennedy 'is worth up to $500m' as JFK's daughter is forced to reveal her income so that she can be named the next American ambassador to Japan
- JFK's daughter is being forced to disclose her assets after being nominated to be the next American ambassador to Japan
- She will need to cut ties with any organizations thought to pose conflicts of interest if they have any offices in Japan or dealings with the country
- Caroline, 55, inherited the estates of her mother Jackie and brother John Jr after their respective deaths in 1994 and 1999
- She owns her mother's 366-acre Martha's Vineyard estate, and previously sold Jackie's Fifth Avenue apartment for $9.5m following her death
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Caroline Kennedy has been forced to reveal her net worth by submitting financial statements in order to be considered as the next American ambassador to Japan, and it is believed she may be worth up to $500million.
The former first daughter's wealth has been a closely-guarded secret for decades, but now that President Obama has nominated her to represent the United States abroad, she has to list the sources of her massive income.
'She’s very rich, probably worth between $250million and $500million,' said one legal expert who had seen the financial disclosure forms.
In the spotlight: Caroline Kennedy's name has been submitted to be the first woman appointed as American ambassador to Japan
Caroline, who is the sole surviving member of former President John F. Kennedy's immediate family, has avoided calls to publicly release her financial statements in the past, but as the Senate must now approve her appointment to be an Ambassador, she has no choice.
The closest she came to revealing her millions came in 2008 when she asked then-New York Governor David Patterson to suggest she take over Hillary Clinton's empty Senate seat.
At the time, she said she would reveal what board positions make her how many millions and exactly how much her family trusts earn in interest, but only if her takeover of the Senate seat was going to happen.
It didn't, so the curtains surrounding her bank accounts remained closed.
Now there is no such justification for privacy, as she needs to reveal what ties she will be willing to cut in order to take the prestigious position.
'I understand that a heightened prospect of a conflict of interest could exist as to companies that maintain a presence in Japan,' she wrote in a letter accompanying her disclosure statements.
According to The New York Post, said conflicts could include a number of board and trustee positions that she olds with Harvard University's Kennedy school, her husband Edwin Schlossberg's foundation, and the arts foundation created by her mother and father.
Connections: Caroline has supported Barack Obama in both presidential elections, seen left in 2008 and then with First Lady Michelle Obama at her uncle's funeral in 2011 (right)
The biggest source of her income is from the extensive trusts that her grandfather Joe established for each of his children and grandchildren.
The untimely deaths in her family have led to a piling up of respective estates, as her mother Jackie inherited her father's trusts after he was assassinated in 1963.
After leaving the White House, Jackie Kennedy married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis in 1968, though he died less than seven years later in 1975.
When he passed away, Jackie was not entitled to as much as she would have been as a result of Greek estate laws, and after two years she agreed to accept a $26million settlement from her late-husband's daughter Christina in return for giving up all claims to the family fortune in the future.
People Magazine reports that her later relationship with financial planner Maurice Tempelsman helped her build that payout from the Onassis family into an estimated fortune of anywhere between $100million and $200million, though it is unclear where that money went exactly as her final estate that was passed on to her children was significantly lower.
Camelot: Caroline, seen on her mother Jacqueline's lap beside her then-Senator father Jack in 1960, inherited the vast majority of her wealth
Second marriage: Jacqueline Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis in 1968, and fought with his family for two years following his death in 1975 over her payout. All told she agreed to accept $26million from his estate
Back in New York: She spent her final years in the company of Maurice Tempelsman, who helped her grow her fortune that she eventually left to her two children
Key address: Since leaving the White House, Jacqueline Kennedy spent much of her later life in her 15th floor apartment on Fifth Avenue in New York's Upper East Side
Jacqueline was diagnosed with cancer in 1994 and died four months later. She left her children an estimated $43.7million, including several pricey properties including her 15-room apartment on Fifth Avenue which had a view of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as the 366-acre Kennedy estate on Martha's Vineyard.
In May of this year, Caroline listed 90 waterfront acres of the property for sale- with no homes included- for $45million though it does not appear to have sold yet. She is still holding on to three lots of land for herself and her children, two that pay off the cost of estate expenses, and one that has been designated as open space. The Boston Herald reports that the lots she is keeping for her family include the home that her mother lived in and designed.
This isn't the first time that Caroline has made a parcel off her mother's property. Jackie bought the 15th floor of her Fifth Avenue apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side in 1964 following the president's assassination, she paid $250,000. It sold for $9.5million in 1995 after her death to billionaire David Koch.
Kennedy curse: John Jr., seen here with his wife Carolyn just months before their death, left his estate to his sister Caroline and her children and they had to pay the Bessette family $15million following the fatal plane crash
'Mrs. Onassis was very conservative financially, and she didn’t spend much on it. We gutted the apartment and redid everything,' he said to The Observer after he decided to sell it for .$32million in 2006.
On top of her own piece of the Kennedy pie, Caroline also inherited her brother John Jr.'s trusts when he died in a plane crash in 1999.
He left his $50million to his relatives and a few charities, but the Kennedys are also believed to have paid the Bessette family $15million as a result of the crash. John Jr. was the one piloting that fatal flight in his plane with his wife Carolyn and her sister Laura as passengers; investigations into the crash reported that all three died on impact and the cause of the crash was pilot error.
Seclusion: The massive Kennedy estate in Martha's Vineyard keeps their family foothold in Cape Cod
Private property: Even though Caroline has listed large portions of the property for sale, she will still have well over 100 acres to her name, not to mention the family house
Selling off land: In May, Caroline listed two parcels of land totaling 90 acres for sale for $45million from the 366-acre property that her mother bought in Martha's Vineyard back in the 1970s (shown in 1981)
'From the figures, it looks like she earns between $12million and $30million a year from her trust and from her investments,' an unidentified legal expert told The Post.
The interest yielded from those funds is hefty, but the 55-year-old has not just been resting on those laurels.
She has stakes in banks like Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, JP Morgan and two oil companies that her family's assets own.
On top of those eight-figure sums, she also brings in an additional $1million from paid speeches and book royalties on a yearly basis.
Branching out: Edwin Schlossberg's design firm is based in New York so he is not expected to move to Japan alongside his wife of 27 years if she is confirmed as the Ambassador to Japan
Surviving Kennedys: Caroline, seen with (left to right) her children Tatiana, Jack and Rose, and her husband Edwin, is the sole surviving member of former President Kennedy's immediate family
She has been a perpetual consideration for a number of political posts over the years, but this one comes at a personal cost as her husband Edwin Schlossberg will not be joining her in Tokyo since his design firm is based in New York.
Their 26-year marriage has been the subject of speculation over the years since they are rarely seen together, but they were seen enjoying a beach vacation in St Bart's over the girls' spring break earlier this year.
If the nomination goes through, she will become the first woman appointed to the post.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2397098/Caroline-Kennedy-worth-500m-JFKs-daughter-forced-reveal-income-named-American-ambassador-Japan.html#ixzz2krn2FER6
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