Background
George Washington was born on 22 February 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, commanded the Continental Army, and served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797. He died in December 1799.
Land
Washington’s fortune was overwhelmingly in land. Mount Vernon alone ran to roughly 8,000 acres, and he held substantial further tracts to the west acquired through survey work, military warrants and purchase. He was, by the standards of the period, extremely wealthy – and persistently short of cash, which is a normal condition for landed wealth.
The Distillery
The most precisely documented part of his business is the one people least expect. In 1797 his farm manager James Anderson proposed distilling rye and corn whiskey; Washington, by his own account knowing nothing of the business, agreed (Mount Vernon’s own records).
By 1799 it was among the largest distilleries in the country, producing close to 11,000 gallons in that year and valued at about 7,500 dollars – on the order of 120,000 dollars today (Mount Vernon). It was one of Mount Vernon’s most profitable operations (Smithsonian Magazine).
What the Estate Rested On
Any account of Washington’s wealth that omits this is incomplete: a large part of it was generated by enslaved people, who at Mount Vernon numbered in the hundreds and who were treated in the accounts of the period as property. His will provided for the emancipation of those he personally owned, on his wife’s death.
How the Estimate Is Calculated
Documented. Unusually much, because Mount Vernon holds the estate records. The distillery’s 1799 output of nearly 11,000 gallons valued at about 7,500 dollars, and the roughly 8,000-acre home estate (Mount Vernon’s own records, Mount Vernon).
Estimated. The value of the western landholdings, which were extensive, illiquid and hard to price even at the time.
Not verifiable, and deliberately not converted. Two centuries of adjustment across an economy of a different shape gives answers that differ by an order of magnitude depending on the method: a retail price index, a wage-share measure and a share-of-GDP measure applied to the same estate can be a factor of twenty apart (MeasuringWorth).
Why there is no modern figure below. Publishing a narrow band while saying the methods differ that widely would contradict itself, which an earlier version of this page did. What can be said with confidence is the contemporary position: he was among the largest landowners in Virginia, his distillery was one of the biggest in the country, and he was persistently short of cash despite both.
Estimated Net Worth
Among the wealthiest men in America at his death in 1799. No modern conversion is given – see the calculation section for why.