Elena Kagan's estimated net worth grew 74 percent during her year as solicitor general, records show, an increase that a White House official attributes largely to the distribution of her mother's estate.
The rebound of the stock market also helped the U.S. Supreme Court nominee, as did the sale of her Cambridge, Mass., home.
Kagan took a hefty pay cut when she became solicitor general last year. Kagan's annual salary as solicitor general is $165,300. As dean of Harvard Law School, she made $437,299.
In responding Tuesday to a Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire, Kagan listed assets of $1,762,519 and no liabilities as of Jan. 1. About $740,000 was in cash, with the rest split among a money market fund, mutual funds and retirement plans.
The White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Kagan will disclose more details about her mother's estate in the coming week, when she plans to file an annual financial disclosure report required of top executive-branch officials. Her mother, Gloria, died in July 2008.
Kagan listed $824,000 in various retirement plans, "from employment and inherited IRAs." That's up 64 percent from the $504,000 in her retirement plans when she answered a Judiciary Committee questionnaire to be solicitor general on Jan. 15, 2009. She reported a 22 percent increase -- or $35,880 -- in the combined value of her money market fund and mutual funds.
In October, as the Supreme Court was beginning its current term, Kagan sold her home in Cambridge, Mass., according to land records. The sale price was $1.53 million, or $131,000 more than its estimated value nine months earlier. She purchased the property in 2004 for $1.4 million, and as of January 2009 had a mortgage balance of $1.22 million.
Kagan no longer lists any assets under "Autos and other personal property." Last year, she listed assets in that category valued at $25,000.
