Berkley wealth shows increase

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, June 7, 2000 | 11:03 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The personal wealth of Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., jumped to as much as $4.6 million after she married Las Vegas physician Larry Lehrner.

Her net worth now rivals that of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., formerly the state's wealthiest Congress member.

Lawmakers last month were required to report to Congress their assets and income as of the end of 1999. The disclosure forms officially will be made public later this month.

Berkley's assets fell in a range from $286,015 to $840,000 in 1998 and ballooned to a range between $3.6 million to $4.5 million because of the marriage in 1999. Assets include cash available such as bank accounts, retirement funds, mutual funds and stock values.

Congress members in the disclosure reports are required to list their assets, in many cases giving a wide range of value, not the exact amount.

The couple's income for 1999 was between a range of $60,710 and $198,000, mostly from interest on accounts and investment funds and from Lehrner's medical business ventures.

Those figures did not include salaries -- Lehrner earned between $100,000 and $250,000, according to the report. Berkley for 1999 listed $13,334 as income prior to taking her seat in the House from consulting work on the Consumer Electronics Show.

All members of Congress earn $141,300.

Berkley married Lehrner, a kidney specialist, in March 1999. Their portfolio includes $2.3 million in 57 stock holdings that include AT&T, Bank of America, BellSouth, Bristol Myers Squibb, Coca-Cola, Exxon Mobil, Lucent Technologies, MCI, Nokia, Pfizer, Philip Morris, Schering Plough, Sony, Time Warner, Volvo and Wal-Mart. At the end of 1999, their Microsoft, Home Depot and General Electric holdings were their most lucrative holdings at more than $70,000 in value each.

Berkley, the youngest Nevada Congress member at 49, in her past careers worked her way up from keno runner and cocktail waitress to casino executive and served on the Nevada Board of Regents for the state's college and university system.

Reid gave to charity $14,000 he earned from speeches made at seven events for AT&T, American Academy of Opthamology, American Society of Anesthesiologists, International Sign Association, Marriott International, Mortgage Bankers Association and Outdoor Advertising Association of America.