Many other politicians also took a financial hit in the past year. For example, 48 members of Congress held $7.7 million in Citigroup shares, which have declined 91 per cent since the start of 2008.
According to forms filed last May but covering the end of 2007, the Obamas were keeping most of their assets - between $1.5 million and $6.1 million - in super-safe investments like bank checking accounts, money market accounts, and US Treasury notes.
This was exactly the place to put your money in 2008, when stocks and even many bonds tumbled in value.
The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 37 per cent in 2008 and has dropped another 15 per cent in 2009.
Much of the Obama fortune is brand new. He earned more than $4 million from book royalties in 2007.
Image: Protesters demonstrate outside a Citibank branch in Hong Kong. | Photograph: Bobby Yip/Reuters
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