Bennett's worth is $45 million question

Call it the $45 million question, the question of what exactly is the net worth of Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah.

Personal financial-disclosure forms that he filed with the Senate — after earlier requesting an automatic 90-day extension — show it is between a minus $24.2 million and a positive $20.9 million, a laughably large range of $45 million.

"It is nowhere near either of those extremes, I can assure you," Bennett told the Deseret News.

"But frankly, I'm almost as much at sea as you are (about the real net worth), because there are real estate assets in there that, at today's market, who knows what the real estate assets are worth," he said. So he declined to try to narrow the range beyond what was required on forms.

Members of Congress report their assets, income and liabilities by checking boxes on categories that have wide ranges of values. Their precise net worth is not revealed, and instead, only a broad range is given.

For example, Bennett's largest asset — ownership of the Anniversary Inns in Utah through a managed trust — is valued at between $5 million and $25 million. (Bennett said he is in the process of trying to sell the inns, but the sales have not closed.)

Mortgages on the Anniversary Inns are also Bennett's largest liabilities; he owes somewhere between $6 million and $30 million.

Overall, Bennett lists assets worth between $5.78 million and $26.9 million, and liabilities (all for the Anniversary Inns) between $6 million and $30 million. That means his net worth is somewhere between minus $24.2 million and $20.9 million.

One thing that Bennett said is certain is that he is worth much less now than when he entered the Senate in 1993. During his first campaign, he said his net worth was about $30 million, with much of that coming from stock in the Franklin Quest time-management company that he helped lead.

When he entered the Senate, ethics rules prompted him to turn over most of his business assets to a managed trust of which he had no day-to-day control. Initially, he directed trustees to invest in Utah start-up companies to support Utah jobs and growth.

Many of them were not successful, and Bennett lost millions on them.

Also, lines of credit required him to sell much of his Franklin stock if it hit predetermined low points — which it did — also hurting his net worth.