If elections are popularity contests, it doesn't hurt to be the richest kid in the game. Then again, it doesn't seem to help much either.
Donald Trump has already made a splash more than a year ahead of the 2016 presidential election, providing no shortage of sound bites and starting fights with his fellow Republican politicians. It's easy to see Trump as something of a sideshow, but his strength in the polls along with his massive personal fortune make him more formidable than many had initially forecast.
But money isn't everything. On the list of the richest presidential candidates ever, Trump sits at or near the top, depending on the valuation you believe. He is not, however, surrounded by winners.
President Barack Obama, by comparison, is worth around $7 million.
Let's see how Trump stacks up.
Ross Perot: $3 billion
Ross Perot retains the title of the richest man to ever run for president. The self-made Texan provided the strongest third-party run of any candidate in the modern era, grabbing nearly one-fifth of the total electorate in 1992.
Perot was one of the early tech billionaires, having founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962. He sold it to General Motors in 1984 for $2.5 billion.
Perot's politics were also ahead of their time. His brand of business-focused conservatism, including a call to balance the federal budget, would later be embraced by the Tea Party.
Donald Trump: $2.9 billion
If you believe Donald Trump, he is by far the richest person to run for president. He might be right.
Trump, who as of August has established a firm lead among GOP hopefuls in many polls, may not be worth the $10 billion he claims, but he's certainly among the richest candidates of all time. Bloomberg puts Tump's net worth at $2.9 billion. If it was left up to Forbes, Trump would indeed hold the title of richest candidate ever, with a net worth of $4 billion.
As if The Donald needed any more advantages, he doesn't yet seem to need to spend much of that warchest. Trump has received so much media coverage that he hardly needs to advertise.
George Washington: $525 million
The Father of the Country was also pretty loaded.
In addition to being a pretty kickass general, George Washington owned more than 8,000 acres of farmland as a part of his Virginia plantation, Mount Vernon. That also included more than 300 slaves.
Adjusted for inflation, Washington's net worth would equate to around $525 million, making him among the wealthiest people to ever run for president, and arguably the richest person to ever take the office.
Steve Forbes: $430 million
The grandson of the founder of Forbes magazine, Steve Forbes ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1996 and 2000.
With a net worth in 1996 of around $430 million, Forbes ran on a Perot-like platform of bringing business leadership to the White House. He saw some success, winning the primaries in Arizona and Delaware in 1996 but failed to secure the nomination.
Mitt Romney: $250 million
Romney, who ran for president against Obama in 2012, made his fortune in consulting for Bain & Company and later helped found private equity spinoff Bain Capital, a role that would become the subject of political attacks during his run.
He is pictured above participating in a charity boxing event because, well, there was no way of not publishing that picture once we found it.
It is worth noting, however, that Romney gives a lot of his wealth to charity, with much of its going to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormon church).
John Kerry: $200 million
The current U.S. secretary of state is quite wealthy, with most estimates putting his net worth around $200 million. Much of that is family money, as Kerry has either served in the military or as a politician for much of his life.