Mitt Romney says net worth is about $200 million

By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff

MIAMI - Amid all the debate about a delay in releasing his tax returns and the effective tax rate he paid, Mitt Romney was disarmed today when an interviewer bluntly asked him: “Governor, how much money do you have?”

The query, near the outset of a 20-minute interview with Univision, put Romney in the awkward situation of risking insulting his host, the widely popular anchor Jorge Ramos, or revealing something about which he has not spoken publicly.

Romney first joked that he would divulge the figure if Ramos did as well. But even before Ramos clarified that he was not running for president, Romney dropped his protestations.

“I actually disclosed in a financial disclosure statement all of the assets which I own, and I think the estimate in there is a pretty wide range that’s been widely reported, and my net worth is within that number,” the former Massachusetts governor and two-time presidential contender said.

Asked whether it was over $150 million, as those forms suggest, Romney replied: “It’s between $150 and about $200 some-odd million dollars, I think that’s what the estimates are.”

The Republican presidential candidate then turned to the defense he has used recently on the stump.

“By the way, I didn’t inherit that,” he asserted. “My parents gave me a lot of great things: They gave me the privilege of being born in this country, the privilege of having a mom and a dad that cared for me and taught me values, a manner of faith, as well, but when they passed away, what they sent to me I gave to charity and my children.

“I inherited no money; what my wife and I have, we earned,” he said.

He also said that during a 25-year career in consulting and private equity work, he helped start businesses that created “over 100,000 jobs for middle-income Americans.”

Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @globeglen.