Dr. Ben Carson, a world-renowned American neurosurgeon, has a net worth of $30 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. In addition to being a successful physician, he gained notoriety as a 2016 Presidential candidate for the Republican party. In March 2017, President Donald Trump appointed him as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Dr. Ben Carson’s Income Streams
Medical Practice and Teaching
Apart from his income as a neurosurgeon, Dr. Carson earned a considerable sum of money from inspirational speeches. In 2014, he earned over $2 million from speaking engagements, with his per-speech fee averaging between $12,000 and $50,000. In a 16-month period between 2014 and 2015, Dr. Carson and his wife earned between $9 million and $27 million from speaking engagements, book royalties, and salary for serving as board members of various companies.
Public Service
As a member of the Board of Directors of Kellogg and Costco, Dr. Carson earned between $2 million and $10 million in a 16-month period between 2014 and 2015. He also earned between $200,000 and $2 million as a contributor to Fox News and the Washington Times.
Early Life and Education
Born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1951, Dr. Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. was the son of Robert Solomon Carson and Sonya, who was just 13 years old when she married Robert. Dr. Carson’s parents separated in 1959, and he lived with his mother and brother in Boston. In 1961, they moved back to Detroit, where Dr. Carson graduated third in his class from Southwestern High School.
After receiving a full-ride scholarship to Yale University, Dr. Carson went on to earn his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School. Initially struggling academically, he was encouraged to either drop out or take a reduced class load and take longer to graduate. He continued with a regular full class load, and his grades slowly improved. He graduated in 1977 and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Career as a Surgeon
Dr. Carson served as a surgical intern and then as a neurosurgery resident for five years at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He was elected chief resident in his final year and spent the year of 1983-1984 as a Senior Registrar in Neurosurgery at a hospital in Perth, Western Australia.
In 1984, Dr. Carson was appointed the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University. He operated on approximately 300 children a year and was a Professor of Neurosurgery, Oncology, Plastic Surgery, and Pediatrics at John Hopkins. As a surgeon, he specialized in traumatic brain injuries, brain and spinal cord tumors, epilepsy, and other neurological and congenital disorders.
Dr. Carson led a team of 70 surgeons in 1987 to separate conjoined twins Patrick and Benjamin Binder, who were joined at the back of their heads. Although Dr. Carson was able to separate the boys, both twins were left in a vegetative state and became institutionalized wards of the state. This surgery launched Dr. Carson into the public spotlight, resulting in multiple publishing deals and a career as a motivational speaker.
Awards and Achievements
Dr. Carson’s groundbreaking work on pediatric neurosurgery earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008. He has had his research and findings published in over a hundred publications, and his refined procedure for hemispherectomy has been used successfully in at least one other case.
