West Virginia

A photo of Jim Justice and his bulldog

Gov Justice's Facebook Page

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Suitable For Office?

Jim Justice, the governor of West Virginia and a candidate for U.S. Senate, is one of the richest men in the state, with a net worth of $1.2 billion. He is also a man who has a hard time paying the bills. Since 2016, courts have ordered Justice and his companies to pay more than $10 million to more than a dozen suppliers, workers and government entities. Over the same time, his companies also piled up $13 million-plus in tax liens.

The Long Haul

But his financial troubles are far from over. In September 2023, he filed a federally-mandated financial disclosure for his Senate run, revealing a mountain of assets — with many indicating they produce little or no income — and also a riptide of debt. Two debts on the filing are promissory notes characterized as between $1 million and $5 million each to Bray Cary, the broadcaster and businessman who served as Justice’s senior adviser, as well as his Cary Foundation Inc. No explanation is provided for the notes, both issued August 31, 2021, shortly after Cary left the administration.

Another debt that has haunted Justice and his family-owned companies is a $8.4 million judgment awarded to Caroleng Investments Limited, the parent company of the Russian mining company Mechel that bought and sold properties with Justice. The dispute is an aspect of a long-running deal gone sideways. Justice sold the family’s coal assets to Mechel in May 2009 for $436 million in cash and 83.3 million preferred shares of Mechel stock. Justice then bought Bluestone back in 2015 for $5 million. The mines had closed under Mechel, but Justice reopened them.

The deal to buy back the Bluestone properties included a provision to pay Caroleng $3 a ton in royalty payments for mined coal, along with defined portions of future sales. In court filings, Caroleng claimed Bluestone withheld the royalty payments. Bluestone contended that it had withheld money as “setoffs” against amounts that it overpaid Caroleng. Caroleng countered that there was a clause in the companies’ 2015 sale agreement that prevented Bluestone from keeping “setoff” payments.

A three-person panel for the International Chamber of Commerce arbitrated the case in Paris, France, in October 2019, two years into Justice’s first term as governor. The panel awarded the $8.4 million plus interest after concluding Bluestone had “materially breached” multiple aspects of the agreement with Mechel.

In October 2023, U.S. marshals were instructed to seize a 2009 Bell helicopter belonging to a company owned by Justice and his family because of the unpaid debt. You can read more about this incident in [my previous article].

Justice’s financial woes have raised questions about his ability to manage his own businesses, let alone the state or the country. His opponents have also criticized him for being out of touch with the average West Virginian, many of whom face economic hardships and struggle to make ends meet.

Justice has defended his wealth and his businesses, saying he has created thousands of jobs and saved businesses like The Greenbrier Resort, which he owns. He has also donated his base pay as governor to the state Department of Education while still paying the income taxes.

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Madison Pritchett specializes in writing and publishing news articles for various news sites, offering expertise, versatility, reliability, and customizability to meet clients' needs.

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