Richmond, Virginia—As Glenn Youngkin prepares to take office after investing $20 million of his own money in his campaign, he is refusing to put all of his assets in a blind trust or release his tax returns. Youngkin’s personal investment, in addition to his nearly half a billion dollar fortune, have caused many to question who Youngkin will really be working for when he takes the oath of office. 

Virginia ranks towards the bottom of a scale that tracks the potential of corruption and conflict of interests with lawmakers, making it even easier for Youngkin to use his role as Governor to enrich himself. Did Glenn Youngkin invest $20 million of his own money so that he could recoup that investment and then some as Governor? His refusal to put all of his assets into a blind trust has called his integrity into question.

“The Commonwealth of Virginia is not a business whose assets and stocks can be manipulated for an individual’s personal gain. Hardworking families in our community need a Governor who is working for them,” Vanessa Clinton, Press Secretary at Progress Virginia said. “Until Glenn Youngkin releases his tax returns and puts all of his investments in a blind trust, as is the standard procedure for a wealthy Governor, we will always be wondering: is Glenn Youngkin working for us or for his stock portfolio?”

Youngkin’s wealth helped win him office. Now it’s testing Virginia’s lax ethics laws. [VPM, Ben Paviour]

“Republican Glenn Youngkin’s wealth helped catapult him from political nobody to Virginia’s executive mansion, investing $20 million of his own money into his campaign. It was a drop in the bucket of a fortune valued over $450 million, with his financial holdings eclipsing the annual budgets of several state agencies he’ll soon manage.”

“Youngkin put some of his holdings into a blind trust after winning the Republican nomination in May — an arrangement also used by several of his predecessors in the executive mansion. The blind trust includes his holdings in Carlyle Group, where he served as co-CEO; an August 2020 federal filing showed Youngkin owned over eight million shares in the stock, a holding that, if Youngkin kept, is now valued at more than $459 million.”

“Dozens of Youngkin’s stocks, bonds and mutual funds will remain outside of the trust. Those assets include hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in stocks of companies that do business in Virginia, including: Anthem, Cigna Corp., Citigroup, CVS Healthcare Corp, Comcast, General Mills, Microsoft, PNC Financial Services Group, Procter & Gamble, Target, Teladoc Health, Verizon, Visa and Richmond-based CarMax Inc, among others. Youngkin also holds millions of dollars in bonds issued by Virginia-based public authorities ranging from the Riverside Virginia Regional Jail Authority to the Loudoun County Economic Development Authority.”

“The exact amount of holdings remains unclear because Virginia’s disclosure forms provide ranges rather than precise dollar amounts. Youngkin has not provided more detailed information or responded to calls to release his tax returns.”