Spanish king publishes net worth of €2.6 million

Felipe VI has €2.3 million in current accounts or savings, and €300,000 worth of art and antiquities

King Felipe VI of Spain (by Pol Solà)
King Felipe VI of Spain (by Pol Solà) / ACN

ACN | Madrid

April 26, 2022 12:24 PM

The Spanish king, Felipe VI, has announced for the first time his net worth, valued at €2.6 million. According to data published online by the Royal household, the monarch has €2.3 million in current accounts or savings, while €300,000 refers to an art, antiquities, and jewelry collection. 

The information has been released as the king wants to modernize the Spanish monarchy "to gain the respect and trust from citizens through exemplarity, transparency, righteousness, and integrity of its acts," a statement published on Monday reads.  

King Felipe VI has €2,573,392.80 of net worth, mainly from the retributions received by the monarch from the Royal household budget in the last 25 years. The salary is part of his role as Prince of Asturias since 1998 and from his work as King since 2014. The amount before taxes is €4,275,796.94.

Transparency after former king

The amount has been published for the first time. Some people have compared the move to the opacity that former king Juan Carlos I had during his reign. 

Spain’s Supreme Court had been looking into the details surrounding a €100 million commission he received from Saudi Arabia for the awarding of contracts to companies to build a high-speed train line to Mecca. 

Another investigation now closed relates to how his family had expenses paid by a Mexican businessman, while prosecutors were also scrutinizing secret bank accounts in Switzerland.

The public ministry admitted that the former head of state defrauded the Spanish tax agency, but said that the crimes would be inviolable according to the Constitution, and thus dropped all cases against the former monarch. 

In the summer of 2020, Juan Carlos made the decision to flee Spain as corruption scandals mounted, in order to protect the image of the monarchy, now led by his son, Felipe VI. 

Juan Carlos I will remain living in Abu Dhabi as was announced in early March 2022. 

In February 2021, it was revealed that the former king of Spain had paid the tax office €4.396m for previously undeclared income relating to flights on a private jet.

Listen to our Filling the Sink podcast episode from March 2021 to hear more about the rise and fall of the former king, Juan Carlos.