Democrat Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker released partial tax records on Wednesday showing a massive financial windfall in 2024, including more than $1.4 million in gambling winnings.
The billionaire governor and his wife, MK, reported an adjusted gross income of nearly $10.7 million, more than triple the roughly $3.2 million they reported in 2023. The $1.4 million in gambling earnings came from a Las Vegas casino, a campaign spokesperson told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money on his campaigns and other Democratic causes, including over $150 million in 2022 to defeat Republican Darren Bailey in the gubernatorial race. Pritzker is currently seeking a third term as governor next year, though he has been rumored to be considering a 2028 presidential run.
In addition to the gambling earnings, Pritzker’s 2024 income was boosted by $4.2 million in capital gains, nearly $3.9 million in ordinary dividends, and more than $800,000 in taxable interest, according to the partial filings released by his campaign.
This marks Pritzker’s highest-income year since 2021, when he and his wife reported $18.5 million in state taxable income, according to the Chicago Tribune. Prior to taking office in 2019, the couple reported $55 million in taxable income in 2017. Since becoming governor, the couple’s income has otherwise hovered between $2 million and $5 million per year.
Asked about the spike in income, the governor’s campaign spokesperson said that “certain trusts make distributions each year, and the taxable income associated with those distributions changes from year to year based on the performance of trust assets,” according to the Chicago Tribune.
Much of the Pritzker fortune is tied up in domestic and offshore trusts. Forbes estimates Pritzker’s net worth at $3.9 billion, making him one of the wealthiest elected officials in the country.
Pritzker’s campaign did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Gambling in Illinois has expanded under Pritzker, who signed legislation in 2019 legalizing sports betting, adding six new casinos, and allowing tens of thousands of slot machines in bars and restaurants to help fund his infrastructure plan.
Meanwhile, Illinois has seen nearly 50 tax hikes since Pritzker took office in 2019, according to the Illinois Policy Institute, and business departures from the state have accelerated rapidly.
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