Ken Starr's Net Worth: How Much Was The Prosecutor Worth When He Died?
The death of Kenneth Starr has brought back memories for many, namely his role as the attorney who led the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton in the late 90s. According to The Washington Post, Starr began his infamous investigation looking into President Clinton's Whitewater real estate transactions in Arkansas — but his scope grew when he discovered the president lied under oath about his relationship with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
After pursuing Clinton in Whitewater and then leading his impeachment charge, Starr became a star among conservatives. After the Clinton impeachment debacle, Starr was a household name, and went on to serve as dean of the law school at Pepperdine University and as president of Baylor University, according to The New York Times. He even represented high-profile figures in court like Jeffrey Epstein and former President Donald Trump during his 2020 impeachment trial. Obviously, Starr was in high demand, which presumably meant he set a high price for his services — and he certainly did if his net worth when he died was any indication.
Ken Starr was worth millions when he died
Kenneth Starr is most famous for his work as an attorney, but he also worked as a federal judge and was the president of Baylor University in Waco, Texas for six years before he was ousted. With all of these roles under his belt, Starr accumulated a net worth of $3 million upon his death on September 13, per Celebrity Net Worth. So how did Starr build up his nest egg?
One of Starr's income streams came from the speaking circuit. According to his agency, the former impeachment attorney earned from $10,000 to $20,000 for each speaking event. Starr was the highest-paid college executive in the U.S. in 2016, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education (via Houston Public Media). Dan Bauman told Houston Public Media's "Houston Matters" that Starr got the highest-paid college executive "as the result of a $4.5 million severance agreement that he negotiated with Baylor" after he was ousted.
Presumably, Starr was paid big bucks to come on Trump's legal defense team for the first impeachment trial. The Washington Post reported that the Republican National Committee was paying then-President Trump's legal bills, and the RNC transferred $2.7 million as the impeachment battle heated up. But as Trump's legal problems grew, so did Starr's payday.