Jeb Bush is reportedly releasing three decades of tax returns Tuesday designed to flaunt both his business prowess and transparency. But
Ed O'Keefe reports that the hefty release may not tell the whole story:
Despite the unprecedented release, Bush’s tax returns may not provide a full accounting of his finances. In the past, he has declined to release tax forms from his various businesses under pressure from political opponents. He has also reportedly been involved in several limited liability companies of unknown purpose. Failure to release information on those entities might prohibit a fuller understanding of his finances.
Here's a couple holes we might expect to find: anything having to do with
MWI Corp. and maybe
InnoVida. They look fun!
A handful of tax returns and documents previously released, mostly from his time as governor, show how Bush’s wealth has grown from $34,895 in adjusted gross income in 1986 — when he was working on commercial real estate deals in Miami — to a net worth of $2 million as he was entering office in 1998.
This was the time period—mid '80s to mid '90s—during which Jeb!
really capitalized on being the son of a sitting president.
But when Bush leapt back into the private sector in 2007, he displayed the same energy he had during his earlier days — but enjoyed more lucrative returns. His work once again focused on real estate investments, but grew to include hefty consulting contracts, speaking fees, service on several company boards and work with investment firms.
Oh, and
this sweet deal:
Jeb Bush was out of the Florida governor’s mansion for less than a year when he signed a $15,000-a-month consulting deal with InnoVida, a Miami start-up promising to revolutionize affordable housing with remarkably sturdy and lightweight building panels.
But InnoVida never delivered. Instead, the company crashed amid bankruptcy and fraud investigations that ultimately landed its charming CEO, Claudio Osorio, in federal prison for nearly 13 years.
A bankruptcy trustee went after Bush’s fees, and in 2013 the former two-term governor agreed to pay back more than half of the $470,000 he collected as a consultant between late 2007 and the fall of 2010.
Just guessing that what's missing from all these years will be far more interesting than what's released.