Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross reportedly lied about being a billionaire, according to Forbes, the latest in a series of “fibs, exaggerations, omissions, fabrications and whoppers” from Ross that Forbes says have been going on for more than a decade.
Forbes listed Ross’s net worth at $2.9 billion on The Forbes 400 last year, but the Commerce secretary argued his wealth was nearly $3.7 billion.
In reality, though, financial disclosure forms filed after he was tapped by President Trump to lead the Commerce Department indicate Ross has less than $700 million in assets.
As a result, Forbes said it was “intent on removing him entirely” from its list, which led to protests from Ross.
The Commerce secretary, 79, said he had trusts for his family worth more than $2 billion, which were not included in federal filings. Ross told Forbes he transferred assets into trusts “between the election and the nomination.”
Forbes, however, has not been able to verify Ross’s claims.
“After one month of digging, Forbes is confident it has found the answer: That money never existed,” Forbes said. “It seems clear that Ross lied to us, the latest in an apparent sequence of fibs, exaggerations, omissions, fabrications and whoppers that have been going on with Forbes since 2004.”
The Commerce Department told Forbes Ross filed “all required disclosures in accordance with the law and in consultation with both legal counsel and ethics officials.”
“As we have said before, any misunderstanding from your previous conversation with Secretary Ross is unfortunate,” the Commerce Department said.
