Who needs a salary when you can go be a casino whiz?
Billionaire Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) and his wife pocketed $10.7 million worth of taxable income last year, including $1.4 million he won from playing blackjack in Las Vegas, according to tax filings released by his campaign.
The Dem governor, who is seeking a third term in the 2026 election, won the impressive jackpot at a Vegas casino while on a vacation with his wife and some friends, a Pritzker spokesperson told NBC Thursday.
Pritzker will be donating the money to charity, his campaign added.
Records shared with various media outlets suggest the winnings helped propel his income to the highest known level in recent years.
An heir to the Hyatt Hotels Corp family fortune, Pritzker has a net worth of about $3.9 billion, according to the latest estimate from Forbes, an uptick of about $200 million from a year ago.
Overall, the Prizkers forked over $1.6 million in taxes to Uncle Sam, an increase of about $300,000 from the prior year, the partial tax returns show. They also paid $512,120 to the state, an uptick of $358,000.
Meanwhile, the trusts backing the governor ponyed up $30.2 million in federal taxes and $4.5 million in state taxes last year.
That’s a decrease from $50 million to federal taxes and $10 million to state taxes his trusts paid in 2023.
Pritzker’s and his wife MK’s 2024 income includes $4.2 million from capital gains.
Additionally, records show that Pritzker and his wife, MK, made $4.2 million from capital gains. And that they donated $3.3 million to charity last year, up from $1.65 million.
The tax material released does not include Pritzker’s full federal and state income tax returns, which would include much more details about his vast fortune.
Pritzker and his campaign team have long been guarded about the details of his trusts.
In the prior two years, the Pritzkers reported much less taxable income, including $3.2 million in 2023, $2.3 million in 2022. Though in 2021, they reported $18.5 million.
Pritzker hasn’t taken a salary since ascending to the Illinois governor’s mansion in 2019.
The Land of Lincoln governor has also tapped into his deep pockets to bankroll his campaign. In 2018, for example, he pumped over an eye-watering $170 million into his campaign operations, according to financial disclosures analyzed by FollowThe Money.
During the most recent election cycle, he dumped over $159 million into his reelection effort in 2022, with some estimates pegging the figure even higher.
The post reached out to a Prizker campaign spokesperson for comment.
