Born Richard Craig Shelby on the 6th May 1934 in Birmingham, Alabama USA, Richard is a politician and lawyer, best known as the senior Senator from Alabama. He has been a member of the Republican Party since 1994, while before that year he was a Democrat. His career started in the early ‘60s.
Have you ever wondered how rich Richard Shelby is, as of mid- 2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Shelby’s net worth is as high as $20 million, an amount earned through his successful legal and political careers.
Richard Shelby Net Worth $20 Million
Richard is the son of Ozie Houston Shelby and his wife Alice, and grew up in his hometown. After finishing high school, Richard enrolled at the University of Alabama, and after graduation entered the Birmingham School of Law. In 1961 he was the recipient of the Juris Doctor degree, and the same year was accepted into the Alabama State Bar. Two years later, he obtained an LL.B degree from the University of Alabama.
Richard then became city prosecutor in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and served in the position until 1971, and from 1966 he became a US Magistrate for the Northern District of Alabama, a position he held for the next four years, while from 1969 to 1971 he also served as a Special Assistant State Attorney General.
His political career started in 1970, when he was elected to the Alabama Senate and was a member until 1978, being re-elected twice. Although a democrat, he was more conservative than the original democrats, and as a result, he joined a group of moderate to conservative-leaning Democrats, called boll weevils, which often collaborated with President Ronald Reagan on defense issues.
From 1978-87 he was a member of the US House of Representatives, switching to the Senate after winning election in 1986 for the Democratic nomination, and in 1992 was re-elected to the US Senate from Alabama. However, in 1994 he switched sides as he joined the Republicans, and since then has been a member of the Republican Party, and has held several positions, including the Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee from 1992 until 2001, then Chair of the Senate Banking Committee from 2003 to 2007, and again from 2015 to 2017, followethed by Chair of the Senate Rules Committee, a position he assumed on the 3rd January 2017, all of which have contributed to his wealth.
Thanks to his successful career, several educational buildings are named for Richard, including the The Shelby Hall Research Center at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, The Richard C. and Annette N. Shelby Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and The Senator Richard C. and Dr. Annette N. Shelby Center for Engineering Technology, among others.
Regarding his personal life, Richard has been married to Annette Nevin since 1960; the couple has three children together.
