Kerry inherited 3 large trusts

WASHINGTON — Sen. John Kerry, whose wife is enormously wealthy, inherited three trusts from his mother last year, according to a financial disclosure report released Friday.

After the death of his mother, Rosemary Forbes Kerry, last November, the Massachusetts Democrat inherited three trusts with between $300,000 and $1.5 million in assets. The holdings include between $66,000 and $165,000 in U.S. Treasury bonds as well as thousands of dollars in stocks, ranging from General Electric Co. and Merck & Co. to 3M Co. and Proctor & Gamble.

Rosemary Kerry, who was 89 when she died, was a member of Boston's wealthy Forbes family. Her father was an international banker, and the family had vast property holdings.

Kerry, one of nine contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, also owns another trust that is worth between $100,000 and $250,000. He and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, have joint ownership of a Dutch painting worth between $250,000 and $500,000.

The disclosure reports are not specific and allow lawmakers to list their assets by categories with broad financial ranges.

The senator's wealth pales in comparison with that of his wife. She inherited her fortune from her previous husband, Sen. John Heinz, a Pennsylvania Republican and heir to the Heinz food fortune, who was killed in a 1991 helicopter-airplane crash. She married Kerry in 1995.

Teresa Heinz Kerry's wealth has been estimated at more than $500 million, and the report lists nearly 40 pages of her stock and financial assets. Another 16 pages contain various stock purchases and sales.

Last year she sold more than $12 million in H.J. Heinz stock. The return on that stock has fallen more than 14.5 percent in the past year.

The disclosure report shows the senator took one trip financed by a private company — a flight from Charleston, S.C., to Washington and back, paid for by NBC so Kerry could appear on the television show "Hardball."

The senator, a Vietnam veteran, is listed as becoming a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in February 2001. His spokesman Tony Wyche said it was not clear whether Kerry was a member before then. Kerry's war service has been a frequent campaign topic.

The base pay for members of Congress is $154,700.