Financial disclosures show state House candidate Kevin Steele holds a network of more than $400 million.
The politically connected business owner filed a listing of financial assets in June, as required by state law. A look at his disclosures shows a sizable portfolio of stocks, bonds and other financial assets.
The Hudson Republican, Rep. Ardian Zika’s preferred successor in House District 55, raised more than $136,000 for his campaign through mid-June, an amount supplemented with a $250,000 loan to his campaign account. It’s clear from his financial disclosures that a quarter million dollar loan will barely deliver a flesh wound to the multi-millionaire.
He reported an annual income of $825,383 in 2021 alone.
About half of that comes from Datalink, a tech company he founded where he remains chairman of the board. He reported an income of $411,701 from the business. His wife, Michelle, earned another $1,558.
Steele also lists $7 million listed as assets in his stake in DataLink, based on capitalized earnings.
The rest of his income is passive, coming from various accounts and holdings with Fifth Third Bank.
He holds more than $10.7 million in various publicly traded securities at the financial institution among his reported assets. He earned a total of $412,124 from interest, dividends and capital gains.
Steele also, as of the end of May, had upward of $2.5 million in a Fifth Third Bank checking account.
A list of holdings shows significant tech investment, including more than $357,000 worth of stock in Apple, more than $362,000 worth of Microsoft stock, upward of $224,000 in NVidea and over $184,000 worth of Texas Instruments.
But his portfolio shows diversity, with more than $827,000 in municipal bonds.
The vast majority of his net worth, though, comes from real estate holdings.
That includes an estate in Dade City owned by the Steeles and valued at $10.5 million. A more modest home in Hudson holds a market value of $890,000.
Meanwhile, Steele Family Holdings boasts $375 million worth of real estate assets that are not itemized in his disclosures.
The only significant debt listed in Steele’s disclosures is an auto loan worth $92,638 for a Land Rover.
In total, Steele lists a net worth of $408,588,874.
Members of the Florida House earn $29,697 for the part-time job.
Steele faces Gabriel Papadopoulos and Brad Sollberger in a Republican Primary in HD 55, with the winner facing C.J. Hacker of the Constitution Party.
Jacob Ogles has covered politics in Florida since 2000 for regional outlets including SRQ Magazine in Sarasota, The News-Press in Fort Myers and The Daily Commercial in Leesburg. His work has appeared nationally in The Advocate, Wired and other publications. Events like SRQ’s Where The Votes Are workshops made Ogles one of Southwest Florida’s most respected political analysts, and outlets like WWSB ABC 7 and WSRQ Sarasota have featured his insights. He can be reached at [email protected]
$440 million — obviously Steele is a “man of the people.” So if elected I’m “sure” will have the interests of average working people as his top priority.
I jest. Eat the rich!
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