# Prisoner with the biggest net worth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 11, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887 "2016-04-11T14:54:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/1 "2016-04-11T14:54:54Z")
Who is (was) the individual with the biggest net worth, in other words: the richest man or woman, doing time in prison/jail, preferably for a considerable amount of time? Note: Only prisoners who have acquired their wealth legally qualify (i. e. their assets are not connected with the crime they were sentenced for, or any crime, and the government has no reason/right to take the assets away from them). ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/2 "2016-04-11T15:01:58Z")
Probably not the richest but Martha Stewart became a billionaire for the second time while she was doing time for some minor league insider trading. The shares of her company soared while she was doing time. > **[Martha Stewart Preps Sale Of Empire Once Worth $2 Billion](https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2015/06/19/martha-stewart-preps-sale-of-empire-once-worth-2-billion/)** > > Reports suggest that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is poised to sell itself to Sequential Brands Group, the company that recently bought pop singer Jessica Simpson's billion-dollar fashion brand. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/3 "2016-04-11T15:14:06Z")
Well, [here](http://www.emirates247.com/news/billionaires-behind-bars-who-s-in-jail-on-forbes-rich-list-2014-03-20-1.542371) is Forbes list of billionaire prisoners. Looks to me as if one of the Kwok brothers is the big winner. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/4 "2016-04-11T15:16:13Z")
Huh. My first thought was that Conrad Black would be up there, but according to [this cite](http://www.vancouversun.com/touch/much+money+does+conrad+black+have+left/3306617/story.html?rel=3311150), his net worth peaked at a paltry $300 million. (I’m assuming since that is Canadian, since it’s a Canadian newspaper.) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/5 "2016-04-11T15:18:56Z")
I think the “assets not connected with the crime” is open to interpretation and makes this difficult. We might say that Martha Stewart and other people accused of securities fraud don’t qualify, but then, what about billionaire Leona Helmsley, who was accused of tax evasion? If we disallow all forms of financial crimes by rich people, we may have to drop a rung in the amount of money we are talking about, although we still have Phil Spector, worth about $100 million. Also billionaire Jeffrey Epstein who did 18 months for soliciting an underage girl for prostitution. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/6 "2016-04-11T15:20:51Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Well, [here](http://www.emirates247.com/news/billionaires-behind-bars-who-s-in-jail-on-forbes-rich-list-2014-03-20-1.542371) is Forbes list of billionaire prisoners. Looks to me as if one of the Kwok brothers is the big winner. Charged with bribes and graft connected to their fortunes. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/7 "2016-04-11T15:25:58Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Charged with bribes and graft connected to their fortunes. By the CCP, so grain of salt. Still, there were others on the list as well, though these guys were clearly worth the most at $12.5 billion each(!! :eek:). ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/8 "2016-04-11T15:31:15Z")
> [@XT](#): > > By the CCP, so grain of salt. Still, there were others on the list as well, though these guys were clearly worth the most at $12.5 billion each(!! :eek:). Like I said, interpretation is difficult here. If we take a real hard line on it, it might be interesting to ask about the richest person in prison for a non-financially motivated felony. Preferably a very serious one, as with Phil Spector. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/9 "2016-04-11T15:35:31Z")
Adjusted for inflation, where would Capone fit into the list? ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/10 "2016-04-11T15:37:34Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > I think the “assets not connected with the crime” is open to interpretation and makes this difficult. We might say that Martha Stewart and other people accused of securities fraud don’t qualify, but then, what about billionaire Leona Helmsley, who was accused of tax evasion? > > If we disallow all forms of financial crimes by rich people, we may have to drop a rung in the amount of money we are talking about, although we still have Phil Spector, worth about $100 million. Also billionaire Jeffrey Epstein who did 18 months for soliciting an underage girl for prostitution. The point is not to disallow any financial crime per se, but if you take for instance Martha Stewart, the direct financial consequences/sanctions of the ImClone affair were actually clear-cut as well as rather insignificant (considering Martha Stewart’s overall financial situation): > [@](#): > > Bacanovic and Waksal were also convicted of federal charges and sentenced to prison terms.[47][48] Stewart also paid a fine of $30,000.[49] > In August 2006, the SEC announced that it had agreed to settle the related civil case against Stewart. Under the settlement, Stewart agreed to disgorge $58,062 (including interest from the losses she avoided), as well as a civil penalty of three times the loss avoided, or $137,019. > **[Martha Stewart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Stewart#Sentence)** > > Martha Helen Stewart (née Kostyra, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Polish: \[kɔˈstɨra\]; born August 3, 1941) is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, focusing on home and hospitality, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompa ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/11 "2016-04-11T16:06:55Z")
I think the proper comparison is what would their net wealth have been, if not for their crimes. Stewart made some money from the insider trading, sure, but even without that, she would still have been quite rich. Likewise for tax evaders, bribers, and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/12 "2016-04-11T16:10:24Z")
[John Eleuthère du Pont](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Eleuth%C3%A8re_du_Pont) (deceased) must be pretty high on the list. He was the owner of the [World’s rarest stamp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Guiana_1c_magenta). He was the only member of the Forbes 400 richest Americans ever to be convicted of murder. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/13 "2016-04-11T16:14:51Z")
OJ Simpson used to be worth quite a bit before his legal troubles. I don’t know what his current bank balance is. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/14 "2016-04-11T16:19:01Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Adjusted for inflation, where would Capone fit into the list? He, personally, would not be that high. I’ve seen estimates that his worth would be $1.3 billion in today’s dollars, but that’s bullshit. That might have been the worth of his organization, but, even if so, it was not all his. All his workers had greater or lesser parts of it. Sure, a lot of money flowed to him, but most of it flowed through him, to other people, for costs of running his _ahem_ business, and so forth. Certainly he was never short of a dollar, but he didn’t personally own his criminal empire. He was more of a CEO. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/15 "2016-04-11T16:24:46Z")
Al Capone does not fit the OP’s specified conditions : _"Note: Only prisoners who have acquired their wealth legally qualify "_ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/16 "2016-04-11T16:36:31Z")
Hey, don’t underestimate the money to be made in furniture sales. And I should have remembered DuPont. There was a bit of a stir at Villanova when I was there, because our basketball arena was named after him. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/17 "2016-04-11T16:56:02Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > OJ Simpson used to be worth quite a bit before his legal troubles. I don’t know what his current bank balance is. The reason he’s in jail today is because he was broke. He lived in Florida, as di Lord Conrad Black of Singsing, because Florida as I understand protects the primary dwelling from being seized for bankruptcy; he robbed the dealer in Vegas to “repossess” his personal memorabilia because if he’d gone through the courts, the Goldmans would have gotten wind of it and had the items appropriated to pay their outstanding award. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/18 "2016-04-11T18:52:59Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > OJ Simpson used to be worth quite a bit before his legal troubles. I don’t know what his current bank balance is. He drove a Ford Bronco, he couldn’t have been that rich. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/19 "2016-04-11T19:07:52Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Probably not the richest but Martha Stewart became a billionaire for the second time while she was doing time for some minor league insider trading. > [@yabob](#): > > We might say that Martha Stewart and other people accused of securities fraud don’t qualify… > [@Chronos](#): > > Stewart made some money from the insider trading… Not sure it makes a difference for this thread, but Stewart was not convicted of financial fraud but of obstruction of justice, based on lying to federal investigators about her stock sales. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887/20 "2016-04-11T21:56:39Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > OJ Simpson used to be worth quite a bit before his legal troubles. I don’t know what his current bank balance is. My understanding is that he still has his NFL players pension that pays him about $300k per year for life. That’s about it. As everything else went to the Goldman family after losing the civil case. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prisoner-with-the-biggest-net-worth/751887.md?page=2)