Is there something mysterious about an eightfold increase in Sen. McConnell's net worth to almost $24 million between 2005 and 2015?
By Olivera Perkins
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell did see a dramatic increase in his net worth some years ago. But there is no mystery -- his wealth shot up after the death in 2007 of his mother-in-law, a co-founder of a major shipper of freight to China. McConnell's wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, is the eldest of the six daughters of James Si-Cheng Chao and Ruth Mulan Chu Chao, who built the company.
Forbes reviewed the will of Elaine Chao's late mother, which showed she left nearly $59 million in assets.
According to McConnell's office, a gift from Chao's father in memory of Chao's mother boosted McConnell's personal worth to more than $7 million.
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