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The Drill Down: How Stacey Abrams (Really) Made Millions


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Georgia politician and Democratic organizer Stacey Abrams has joined the ranks of thousands of politicians who become very wealthy in a very short time, but what sets her story apart from others is how she did it.

On the latest episode of the Drill Down podcast, Peter and Eric are joined by GAI Fellow and former Congressman from Utah, Jason Chaffetz to unpack the new research out of GAI on Abrams’s business dealings during her time in the state legislature and how she hid her involvement.

Abrams co-founded NOWaccount, a payment services company, in 2010—but with little success at first. That began to change in 2013 when, at the request of then-state legislator Abrams, a loan program was tailored in a way that made her company the only such firm of its class (and thereby extremely profitable).

But since this regulatory tweak happened, Abrams has quietly tried to create distance between her company and herself, even saying she “walled myself off” and mentions of her being removed from the company website.

What was that rule change that helped her company turn her financial status around?

In effect, taxpayers would pick up the tab on defaulted loans managed by NOWaccount, not Abrams’s company or its investors.

Stacey Abrams had more than $130,000 in debt back in 2018, and now, since her company’s “lucky” break, she’s a multimillionaire.