How Much Money Robert F. Kennedy Jr Makes From Law Firm Consulting

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s net worth is among the top 10% of earners. This is, in part, thanks to the sizable trust he inherited from his family. On top of this, per F.E.C. filings, via The New York Times, R.F.K. Jr. earned between $29,000 and $90,500 in a single 18 month period ending in 2024, and Forbes places R.FK. Jr.'s net worth an estimated $15 million, which includes the accumulated wealth of his wife, actress Cheryl Hines.

However, while it may fly in the face of expectations, Kennedy did not entirely rely on his trust fund baby status. R.F.K. Jr. began his legal career in 1985, as the chief attorney for nonprofit Riverkeeper, an organization credited for cleaning up New York's Hudson River. He stayed in the environmental protection realm as the senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council and Pace University's environmental litigation clinic before segueing into consultant work for law firm Wisner Baum in 2016. He's also a partner in his law firm Kennedy & Madonna LLP. Needless to say, he's been busy.

According to an Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report submitted to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, R.F.K. Jr. earned $150,000 in 2023 as a consultant for the Marwood Group, an international healthcare advisory firm, and $125,000.00 in consulting fees from Skyhorse Publishing Inc., the publisher of his biography. Perhaps his biggest consulting payday has come from the law firm Wisner Baum, where he earned close to $1.6 million in 2023. 

Of course, consulting fees are not the only way R.F.K. Jr. makes his living. Keep in mind, that none of his consultant fees include how much money R.F.K. Jr. owns in real estate, the $24,000 he charged in speaking fees in 2023, or the $515,960 salary with bonuses earned through his self-founded nonprofit Children's Health Defense. Kennedy also earned around $5.5 million in 2023 for performing his duties as a partner at Kennedy & Madonna LLP.

During a January 2025 confirmation hearing before U.S. Congress, R.F.K. Jr. was asked whether he intended to keep accepting payments from law firm Wisner Baum if confirmed. This was especially relevant given the open case involving Wisner Baum and a major lawsuit against pharmaceutical company Merck — in which R.F.K. Jr. stands to collect 10% of the contingency fees awarded to the law firm for referring plaintiffs to the case. This raises potential conflict of interest questions, especially considering R.F.K. Jr. would be receiving payments from vaccine litigation while being in a position to directly influence vaccine policy.

In the same month, R.F.K. Jr. attempted to offer a compromise in which any fees related to his work with Wisner Baum would be redirected toward one of his sons instead. However, it's questionable whether transferring this sum to one of his sons can be considered distant enough to not present a conflict of interest. At this point, a Wisner Baum win should still be considered a win for RFK's finances.