Kamala Harris’ Net Worth and What the Democratic Vice-Presidential Candidate’s Name Actually Means

Earlier this election season, Kamala Harris was one of a pack of candidates running for the highest office in the land. Eventually, Harris dropped out of the race, endorsing Joe Biden in his run for president.

Now the Democratic party’s vice-presidential nominee and Biden’s running mate, Harris’ fortunes have changed dramatically.

Speaking of fortunes, here is the VP nominee’s net worth, as well as the meaning behind her name.

Kamala Harris’ humble beginnings

In her 2019 book, The Truths We Hold, Harris described her childhood. With her single mother raising both Harris and her sister, Maya, the family, according to Harris was not wealthy but was happy.

“About a year after my parents separated,” she wrote, “we moved into the top floor of a duplex on Bancroft Way, in a part of Berkeley known as the flatlands. It was a close-knit neighborhood of working families who were focused on doing a good job, paying the bills, and being there for one another.

“We weren’t rich in financial terms, but the values we internalized provided a different kind of wealth.”

The meaning of ‘Kamala’

When she accepted Biden’s invitation to become his running mate, Harris unfortunately was subjected to hearing her name accidentally, and purposely, being mispronounced and ridiculed.

She told People in October, “I think that the name that your parents give you, whoever you are, meaning whatever your gender or race or background or language your grandmother speaks, is a very special thing,” she said.

“Many cultures have naming ceremonies. It is a gift that is an incredible, familial gift. The family gives the child a name and so I come at it from that: not about myself, but for everyone … Respect the names that people are given and use those names with respect.”

In her book, Harris explained her name’s meaning. “It means “lotus flower,” which is a symbols of significance in Indian culture. A lotus grows under water, its flower rising above the surface while its roots are planted firmly in the river bottom.”

Her marriage and net worth

In 2010, Harris became California’s state attorney general and was re-elected in 2014. According to Forbes, Harris and her husband attorney Douglas Emhoff, own homes in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.

Forbes’ findings also showed that the couple’s 2014 joint taxes indicated they together earned over $1 million that year.

After being elected senator in 2016, she wrote, “I was no longer a candidate for office. I was a U.S. senator-elect – the first black woman from my state, and the second in the nation’s history, to earn that job. I had been elected to represent more than thirty-nine million people – roughly one out of every eight Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life. It was – and is – a humbling and extraordinary honor.”

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Harris’ net worth is $5 million, most of which has been accumulated by her husband. As an entertainment litigator, Emhoff’s clients include Walmart and Merck.