Just stumbled on something interesting about how U.S. president net worth shifts once they leave office. The numbers are pretty wild when you actually look at them side by side.

Take Reagan - went from $10.6M to $15.4M. That's decent growth, right? But then you've got Clinton, starting at just $1.3M and walking away with $241.5M. That's a 185x increase. And Obama? Started at $1.3M, ended at $70M.

What's fascinating is the variance. George H.W. Bush saw his wealth go from $4M to $23M. George W. Bush doubled from $20M to $40M. Pretty steady increases for most of them.

Then there's Trump - the outlier. He came in already massively wealthy at $3.7B, but actually saw a net decrease to $2.5B. Still obscenely rich, obviously, but the only president on this list whose net worth actually went down in office.

The pattern is kind of obvious when you think about it: most presidents arrive with modest wealth and leave significantly richer. Speaking fees, book deals, board positions, consulting gigs - the post-office earning potential is insane. Some of these president net worth trajectories look like crypto bull runs.

Makes you wonder what the real wealth accumulation drivers are for people at that level. Is it just access and influence? Strategic investments? Or something else entirely?

Curious what people think about these numbers. Does the president net worth before and after tell you anything about how the system actually works?