A long-held rumor claims New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became a multimillionaire since being elected to Congress in fall 2018.
For example, on April 16, 2025, X user @SallyMayweather posted (archived) a meme reading, "AOC going from broke bartender to a net worth of $29 million in less than 6 years. On a $174k salary. Tells you everything you need to know." The post had received more than 163,000 views, as of this writing.
(@SallyMayweather/X)
Other people spread the same rumor in the past, posting similar things on Facebook, Truth Social and X.
However, according to Ocasio-Cortez's financial disclosures published by the U.S. House of Representatives, this rumor was false. Ocasio-Cortez's press office has refuted it, as well.
The X user, @SallyMayweather, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the untrue post.
Reviewing Ocasio-Cortez's Financial Disclosures
As Reuters previously reported in August 2022, Ocasio-Cortez's financial disclosures showed that she was far from being a millionaire, much less a multimillionaire. (Her campaign website ocasiocortez.com also mentioned this same article.)
A review of Ocasio-Cortez's financial disclosures filed in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 located some data displayed in ranges rather than exact dollar figures.
According to the most recent disclosure from 2024, Ocasio-Cortez showed she had somewhere between $1,001 and $15,000 in three different bank accounts. The total for these three accounts landed somewhere between $3,003 and $45,000. She also recorded between $1,001 and $15,000 in additional funds in a fourth account for a 401(k) plan. Further, she noted in the disclosure her ongoing student loan payments, with an "amount of liability" landing somewhere between $15,001 and $50,000.
In other words, just in terms of cash, Ocasio-Cortez was at least $940,000 short of being a millionaire, with the maximum possible amount of the four accounts totaling $60,000 — and that's before factoring in her student loan debt.
In 2023, Snopes presented the Reuters article and her latest financial disclosures to Ocasio-Cortez's press office, asking if it had any further comment or resources. At the time, the office replied, "Nothing to add."
For further reading, a previous fact check debunked a false rumor about Ocasio-Cortez supposedly owning one of the world's most expensive houses.