Steve Bannon Net Worth: Why Was He Arrested?

By Jivika Last updated Oct 29, 2022

Stephen Kevin Bannon is a media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker from the United States. During the first seven months of US President Donald Trump’s presidency, he served as the White House’s chief strategist. He was the former executive chairman of Breitbart News and previously served on the board of Cambridge Analytica, a now-defunct data-analytics firm.

For seven years in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Bannon served as an officer in the United States Navy. Following his military service, he worked as an investment banker for Goldman Sachs for two years. In 1993, he was appointed acting director of the Biosphere 2 research project. Between 1991 and 2016, he worked as an executive producer in Hollywood, producing 18 films. He co-founded Breitbart News, a far-right website that he described as “the platform for the alt-right” in 2016.

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Quick Info

Net Worth:	$20 Million
Date of Birth:	Nov 27, 1953 (68 years old)
Gender:	Male
Profession:	Screenwriter, Film Director, Film Producer

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Stephen Bannon was born on November 27, 1953 in Norfolk, Virginia to Doris, a housewife, and Martin, a telephone lineman. He is of Irish and German ancestry. Bannon attended Benedictine College Preparatory, a Catholic military school in Richmond, as a child. Following that, he attended Virginia Tech and worked at a local junk yard during the summers. He served in the US Navy for seven years after graduating from Virginia Tech with a degree in urban planning. He earned a master’s degree in national security studies from Georgetown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School during this time.

Following his Navy service, Bannon worked as an investment banker in the Mergers and Acquisitions Department at Goldman Sachs. He relocated to Los Angeles in 1987 to help the company expand its presence in the entertainment industry. Three years later, Bannon and some of his colleagues founded their own company, Bannon & Co., a boutique investment bank. He became the director of the earth science research project Biosphere 2, which was based in Oracle, Arizona, while still managing the company.

What is Steve Bannon’s Net Worth?

Steve Bannon is a $20 million net worth American media executive and political consultant. Steve Bannon is best known for serving as Donald Trump’s chief strategist for the first seven months of his presidency. He previously served as executive chairman of the far-right website Breitbart and on the board of Cambridge Analytica, a now-defunct data analytics firm.

Bannon was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering in 2020, and he was held in contempt of Congress the following year for ignoring a subpoena investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

Media Career

By the early 1990s, Bannon had become an executive producer on numerous Hollywood films, including “The Indian Runner” and “Titus.” Later, in 2002, he co-founded The Firm, Inc. with entertainment industry executive Jeff Kwatinetz. Following that, he produced “In the Face of Evil,” a Ronald Reagan documentary; this project introduced him to conservative journalist and publisher Andrew Breitbart, who compared Bannon to Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.

Bannon went on to fund and produce deranged, far-right films like “The Undefeated” and “Occupy Unmasked.” He was the CEO and chair of Affinity Media from 2007 to 2011. He was also a board member of Cambridge Analytica, which used illegal data analytic tactics to target American voters during the 2016 presidential election.

Bannon was a founding member of Breitbart News, an extreme rightwing website that publishes virulently racist, xenophobic, antisemitic, and sexist material, among other things. In 2012, he was named executive chair of the website’s parent company, and he returned briefly in 2017 after a brief stint at the White House. Bannon was fired from Breitbart in 2018. He later founded Citizens of the American Republic, a dark political organisation.

Why Was He Arrested?

Steve Bannon was apprehended by US Postal Inspectors on a 150-foot yacht off the coast of Connecticut on August 20, 2020. Bannon’s arrest was linked to the charity “We Build the Wall.” Banon and several alleged co-conspirators were arrested on suspicion of stealing money from the charity and using it for personal expenses and purchases.

The yacht Bannon was arrested on is owned by Guo Wengui, a Chinese billionaire who is one of China’s most wanted fugitives. In the same week that he was arrested, several banks froze accounts associated with GTV Media Group’s fundraising efforts. Bannon and Wengui are rumoured to be the two key executives behind GTV, which raised $300 million in a private offering in the spring of 2020.