All NewsMarch 8, 2025

Tulsi Gabbard’s net worth: From legislator to national intelligence chief

Tulsi Gabbard, a career politician, was sworn in as the eighth Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in February 2025.

 As U.S. intelligence chief, she leads an agency that oversees 17 intelligence organizations (including the National Security Agency), and she is tasked with providing objective national intelligence information to President Trump and other members of the executive branch.

Gabbard started out as a Democratic Hawaii legislator and then enlisted in the state’s Army National Guard. After her military service, she became a congresswoman representing her home state and caught national attention as an aspiring presidential candidate for the Democratic Party.

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As a career politician, her path has been somewhat similar to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Like Rubio, Gabbard didn’t earn a very high income for most of her political career. 

Here’s how much she’s worth now and how her career began. 

Tulsa Gabbard rose through the ranks from enlisted personnel to lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard before taking on the role of Director of National Intelligence in the Trump Administration.

The Washington Post/Getty Images

What is Tulsi Gabbard’s net worth in 2025?

Gabbard likely has a net worth of around (or less than) $1 million, based on a financial disclosure report to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics in an August 2024 filing. 

Her assets included between $33,000 and $170,000 in exchange-traded funds and interests in media businesses valued at as much as $600,000. Among significant sources of income, she made $199,500 as a contributor to Fox News Network and $373,872 from her media brand Tulsi Media LLC.

Gabbard’s second husband, Abraham Williams, is a cinematographer and has significant assets that boost their net worth as a couple. His real estate holdings included apartments in Texas valued at between around $55 million and $125 million.

Williams’ cash and stock portfolio — valued at between around $330,000 and $925,000 — included ETFs and shares in companies such as Tesla TSLA and Nvidia NVDA. His Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency holdings totaled as much as $95,000.

Related: Donald Trump’s net worth: The U.S. President’s wealth in 2025

Tulsi Gabbard’s salary and income 

As Director of National Intelligence, Gabbard makes an annual salary of $199,700. That’s a slight increase from her $174,000 yearly pay as a four-term congresswoman.

Gabbard made $170,130 in speaking fees from Republican groups and conservative organizations, including the Heritage Foundation, in 2024.

Who is Tulsi Gabbard? Her life and career

Tulsi Gabbard was born in Leloaloa, American Samoa, on April 12, 1981. She and her family emigrated to Hawaii in 1983 when she was 2 years old. 

Her father, Michael, served on the Honolulu City and County Council for a term starting in 2002. He was elected a State Senator in 2007. Her mother, Carol, served on Hawaii’s Board of Education from 2000 to 2004.

In her teens, Gabbard and her father founded the Healthy Hawai’i Coalition, a nonprofit organization aimed at educating children about clean water and protecting the state’s environment.

Education

Gabbard was homeschooled by her parents, who were teachers. She graduated with a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu.

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Legislative and military careers

Like her parents, Gabbard was civic-minded, and she began a career in politics in the Democratic Party. She became the youngest woman elected to the Hawaii State House of Representatives in 2002 and served until 2004.

In 2003, she enlisted in the Hawaii Army National Guard and did not seek re-election. She volunteered for deployment with the 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team to Iraq and did a 12-month tour working in a field medical unit. After serving in Iraq, she returned home to work at her nonprofit.

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In 2006, Gabbard worked as an aide to U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka, representing Hawaii, in Washington, D.C. At the same time, she completed the accelerated officer training at Fort McClellan’s Officer Candidate School and became the first female Distinguished Honor Graduate.

She was commissioned a second lieutenant in 2007. A year later, the 29th Infantry was deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom for another 12-month tour, and Gabbard served as a military police platoon leader in Kuwait.

Gabbard was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal during Operation Iraqi Freedom and was the first woman to ever receive an award of appreciation from the Kuwaiti military on her second overseas tour, according to her biography on the Hawai’i Department of Defense website.

In 2011, Gabbard was elected to the Honolulu City and County Council, and a year later, she made a run for the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2013, she took office as representative of the second congressional district of Hawaii, which covers suburban and rural parts of O`ahu, the islands of Hawai`i, Kaua`i, Maui, Lana`i, Moloka`i, Ni`ihau, Kaho`olawe, and the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Gabbard served out her last term in 2021 without seeking reelection.

In 2016, she made an unsuccessful bid to be the Democratic Party candidate for president.

Gabbard is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. She switched from the Democratic Party to independent in 2022 and became a Republican in October 2024.

How does Tusli Gabbard spend her money?

Gabbard isn’t known to spend lavishly. In 2024, she and her husband purchased a single-story, three-bed, two-bath home in Leander, Texas, according to the DailyMail. Leander is 27 miles north of Austin. Her financial disclosure showed that she carried a 30-year mortgage of between around $250,000 and $500,000 on her personal residence, at a 6.5% annual interest rate. 

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