Clark’s Income Jumped to $1.6 Million, Records Show

Going from the U.S. military to a big investment banking house off Wall Street, Wesley Clark’s income soared from less than $100,000 in 1999 to more than $1.6 million last year, according to the Democratic presidential candidate’s tax records released Friday by his campaign.

More than half of the retired general’s income in the last two years came from giving speeches and writing books, according to Clark’s financial disclosure form filed with the Federal Election Commission.

After joining Stephens Group Inc. as an investment banker in his home state of Arkansas in 2000, Clark collected fees of more than $239,000 while sitting on several firms’ boards. In 14 months, Clark made more than $1 million at Stephens before leaving to start his own consulting firm. Clark’s checking account at his new business contains $500,000 to $1 million, according to his disclosure form, which requires filers to provide income ranges.

Clark became chairman of the board last year at WaveCrest Laboratories in Virginia, collecting $195,000 for consulting on the design and distribution of the company’s motorized bicycle that is being marketed to the U.S. military.

Clark’s net worth is between $3 million and $3.5 million, his campaign says.

During his last full year in the military, Clark’s taxable income from his military pay was $58,000, at a time when he was NATO’s supreme allied commander overseeing the war in Kosovo. Clark is scheduled to testify soon at the trial of Slobodan Milosevic.

In his first full year at Stephens, Clark’s income was $670,000, excluding his military retirement pay. Last year, his income was $1.52 million, minus his military pension of $85,000.

For 2001, Clark’s earnings from writing, speeches and sitting on boards of directors amounted to $421,955. Last year, that figure was $971,885.

Clark’s speaking engagements have brought him nearly $1.5 million in income in the last 23 months.

The Clark campaign’s release of his tax returns is an effort “to give the American people a complete sense of his financial background,” said campaign spokesman Chris Lehane.

Clark owns houses in Little Rock and in Virginia, and he recently sold a rental property in Colorado, collecting between $15,000 and $50,000 on the sale, according to his disclosure form.