Shinzō Abe was born on the 21st September 1954, in Nagato, Honshu Japan, and is a politician, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, and is widely known as the current Prime Minister of Japan since 2012 and for the second time – he served as Prime Minister for the first time between 2006 and 2007.
Have you ever wondered how much wealth this successful politician has accumulated so far? How rich Shinzō Abe is? According to sources, it is estimated that the total amount of Shinzō Abe’s net worth, as of mid-2016, is $10 million, acquired through his political career which is now spanning almost 35 years.
Shinzō Abe Net Worth $10 Million
It is no wonder that Shinzō Abe has made a successful career in politics, as he originates from a politically prominent family – Kan Abe and Shintaro Abe – Shinzō’s grandfather and father were both politicians, while Shinzō’s mother Yoko Kishi, is the daughter of Nobusuke Kishi, who served as the Prime Minister of Japan between 1957 and 1960 and also was one of the founders of Liberal Democratic Party. Shinzō Abe attended Seikei Elementary School and later Seikei Junior and Seikei Senior high schools before enrolling at Seikei University in Tokyo, from which he graduated in 1977 with a Bachelors degree in Political Science. He later transferred to Los Angeles, California where he studied at the University of California majoring in public policy.
In 1979, Shinzō Abe returned to Japan and started working for Kobe Steel Ltd, the leading Japanese steel manufacturing company. He resigned from the company to pursue his political career, soon after joining the LDP in 1982, when Shinzō began serving as the executive assistant to his father who, at that time, was the Minister for Foreign Affairs. These ventures provided the basis for Shinzō Abe’s net worth as well as his political career.
In 1993, Shinzō Abe was elected to the House of Representatives for the Yamaguchi Prefecture district. With his popularity in progress, Shinzō rose quickly within the LDP, establishing himself as a reputable politician. This led him to becoming the Director of the Social Affairs Division in 1999, which was followed by the position of the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Yoshirō Mori, in which he served between 2000 and 2003. Before he was named as the Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Prime Minister Junichirō Koizumi in 2005, Shinzō Abe began serving as the General Secretary of the LDP. All these engagements helped Shinzō Abe to add sums to his wealth.
Shinzō Abe partly earned his impeccable reputation after taking a hard stance towards North Korea when 13 Japanese citizens were abducted; he even accompanied Koizumi in the meeting with North Korea’s leader Kim-Jong-Il in 2002.
The real breakthrough in Shinzō Abe’s political career came in 2006, when he was elected as the Prime Minister of Japan after gaining the majority of votes from both lower and upper houses of the Diet. At the age of 52, Shinzō was the youngest politician in that position since WWII. He focused his efforts on strengthening Japan’s ties with the USA, to balance the threat from China and North Korea, as well as on general improvement of health-insurance and the pension system. However, after a series of government’s financial scandals and public gaffes, and due to health issues caused by a chronic bowel ailment, Shinzō Abe resigned in 2007. Doubtlessly, this involvement impacted the total size of Shinzō Abe’s net worth.
After several years of political latency, Shinzō Abe returned as the Prime Minister of Japan for the second time in 2012. In his second term, Shinzō Abe has focused his government on revival of Japan’s economics.
For his hard work and contribution to the global politics, Shinzō Abe has been honored with various rewards, including the Top 100 Global Thinkers, Herman Kahn Award and Asian of the Year Award in 2013. He was also enlisted in the prestigious Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world in 2014.
When it comes to his personal life, Shinzō Abe has been married since 1987 to Akie Matsuzaki, a former radio disc jockey. Although, they have undertaken several fertility treatments, they are still childless.
