President Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services secretary is worth as much as $20.6 million, according to his newly filed federal disclosures with the Office of Government Ethics.
An analysis by the Associated Press found that Alex Azar’s financial portfolio at Eli Lilly, where he was a former president, was worth between $9.5 million and $20.6 million. He was paid $2 million during his final year, which ended in December.
Azar wrote in his disclosure that he no longer holds any stock from Lilly. In addition to his earnings from Lilly, he received $1.6 million in severance and sold $3.4 million in stock. He declared between $100,000 and $1 million in capital gains from those sales.
After leaving Lilly, Azar started a consulting firm called Seraphim Strategies LLC, which he valued between $15,000 and $50,000.
Azar is also a veteran of the Department of Health and Human Services, where he served as general counsel and deputy secretary under former President George W. Bush.
Azar has been selected by Trump to replace the former secretary, Dr. Tom Price, who resigned after it was revealed his travel on charter jets during the past year cost the federal government more than $1 million.
During his confirmation hearings, Price came under fire from senators for investments he made in biotech companies that may have benefited from legislation he backed. The net worth of Price, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, was estimated at $14 million.
The first of Azar’s confirmation hearings is scheduled for Nov. 29 in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. His nomination also must be advanced by the Senate Finance Committee before it can be sent to the Senate floor for a vote.
