Romney Raked in Speaking Fees, IRA Distributions, Form Shows

(Bloomberg) -- Utah Senate candidate Mitt Romney received more than $1.4 million in speaking fees over the last year, including appearances at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG, according to a financial disclosure report filed with the Senate Friday.

The Republican candidate also listed four individual retirement accounts that have between $32.4 million and $149.8 million in assets. His disclosure shows that, if elected, he’d be one of the richest members of Congress, but his exact net worth isn’t discernible from the forms, which list asset values in broad ranges and exclude assets such as homes and artwork.

Romney’s wealth and tax-deferred retirement savings became an issue in 2012 when he was the Republican presidential nominee. The new disclosure shows that in the last year Romney received $1.7 million in distributions from a Goldman Sachs individual retirement account.

In the document, Romney discloses various accounts -- including IRAs -- that hold at least $88 million in assets, and probably far more. The form reports many values as “over $1,000,000.”

Normally, the annual contribution limits for IRAs are capped at $5,500 for individuals under 50 and $6,500 for older workers -- limits that helped draw attention to the size of Romney’s retirement savings. After the election, which Romney lost, then-President Barack Obama proposed capping tax-favored retirement accounts of some private-equity executives and self-employed professionals at $3 million. The plan didn’t advance in Congress.

Romney earned $131,039 as a director for Marriott International Inc. hotels and $220,000 as a director for son Tagg Romney’s investment firm Solamere Capital.

The form covers Romney’s speeches from Feb. 1, 2017, until Feb. 11, 2018, shortly before he announced his candidacy. He was paid about $100,000 for most of the speeches, with the largest payment of $137,082 coming from NBC Universal.

Romney spokeswoman M.J. Henshaw said this week that Romney will step down from the Marriott board if he wins the Senate race. She said Romney will release his 2017 tax returns as soon as they are filed.

Romney is running for the Senate seat held by Republican Orrin Hatch, who is retiring.

--With assistance from Brandon Kochkodin Bill Allison and Lynnley Browning

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Wasson in Washington at ewasson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, John Voskuhl

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