From working as a Microsoft executive to becoming the governor of North Dakota, Dough Burgum has an impressive fortune. What is his net worth?
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum launched a 2024 presidential campaign on Wednesday, making his case for the Republican nomination in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
Burgum, 66, will face an already-crowded Republican field of candidates that includes former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, President Joe Biden announced in April that he will run for reelection in 2024, with Vice President Kamala Harris once again joining him on the ticket.
While the competition seems tough for Doug in the 2024 general election, many are curious and want to know more about his fortune. One thing is, he is among the richest governors in the United States with a net worth raking in billions of dollars. So, how much is Doug Burgum worth? Read on for more.
Profile Summary
| Celebrated Name: | Doug Burgum |
| Net Worth: | $1.1 billion |
| Salary: | $135,360 (as of 2020) |
| Profession: | Businessman and Politician |
| Company: | Former Angel investor; the president of Great Plains Software |
| Full Real Name: | Douglas James Burgum |
| Date of Birth: | August 1, 1956 (age 66 years) |
| Birthplace: | Arthur, North Dakota, United States |
| Nationality: | American |
| Party: | Republican Party |
| Office: | Governor of North Dakota since 2016 |
| Education: | Stanford Graduate School of Business (1978–1980), North Dakota State University (1978), Stanford University. Nationality: American |
How rich is Doug Burgum?
Doug (real name: Douglas James Burgum) was born on August 1, 1956, in Arthur, North Dakota, United States.
His parents are Katherine (Kilbourne) and Joseph Boyd Burgum. He attended North Dakota State University (NDSU) to earn his undergraduate degree in 1978. During his senior year at NDSU, he applied to the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
He was accepted to study business at Stanford. While there, he befriended Steve Ballmer, who would later be CEO of Microsoft. During his last year at Stanford, Burgum “spent the whole final quarter on a project team with Ballmer.” He received his MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 1980. He later received honorary doctorates from North Dakota State in 2000 and from the University of Mary in 2006.
Burgum entered the Republican primary in the 2016 North Dakota gubernatorial election with no political experience. He upset longtime Attorney General and Republican-endorsed candidate Wayne Stenehjem in the primary election and defeated Democratic nominee Marvin Nelson by a landslide in the general election. He was reelected by a wide margin in 2020.
Prior to his political career, he was into technology and founded some companies which all resulted in him having a huge fortune as of today.
What is Doug Burgum’s net worth? A lifelong resident of North Dakota, Doug Burgum has an estimated current net worth of $1.1 billion and earns an impressive salary of more than $135,360. He made his fortune from a variety of sources outside the political office. He is an entrepreneur and a politician and is regarded as one of the wealthiest US governors.
Burgum was an angel investor and the president of Great Plains Software and is a candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election.
How did Doug Burgum make his money?
In his schooling days, he started a chimney-sweeping business. “The newspaper wrote a story about me as a chimney sweep”, he later recalled; it “ran a photo of me sitting on top of an icy chimney in below-freezing weather in Fargo. The story made the AP wire service. I was later told it caused quite a stir in the Stanford admissions office: ‘Hey, there’s a chimney sweep from North Dakota who’s applied.'”
After getting his MBA at Stanford University, Burgum began a stint at consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
Doug’s grandfather who lived in Dakota for years founded a grain elevator in 1906 which became a family property.
He mortgaged his inherited farmland after graduating from college in 1983 to invest in Great Plains Software. Becoming the company’s president in 1984, he grew Great Plains into a successful large software company
North Dakota’s Republican Governor Doug Burgum made his slightly more than one-billion-dollar net worth by selling his business, Great Plains Software, to Microsoft in 2002 for $1.1 billion after its initial public offering (IPO), according to Vox. While working at Microsoft, he managed Microsoft Business Solutions.
With more than a billion dollars in his coffers, Burgum became a successful tech investor, according to Forbes, and was one of the first to invest in a tech company called SuccessFactors, which sold for $3.4 billion in 2012. He also ran an Australian software tools company called Atlassian that went on to become publicly traded.
He didn’t stop there. He founded Kilbourne Group, a real estate development firm, and co-founded a venture capital firm, Arthur Ventures, all before becoming governor of North Dakota.
He was elected governor of North Dakota in 2016
The businessman launched his North Dakota gubernatorial campaign without any political experience, losing the state Republican Party’s endorsement in the primary race to former state Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. Burgum, however, went on to defeat Stenehjem in a landslide in the state’s primary election, clinching the nomination and, later, the general election.
He was sworn in as North Dakota’s 33rd governor in December 2016, and ran again for the seat in 2020, winning the race handily.
Burgum was endorsed by Trump during both of his gubernatorial elections, and he endorsed Trump back during his first two presidential runs. This was, of course, before Burgum decided to challenge Trump in the 2024 presidential race.