It’s been an eventful year for Steve Witkoff. The 69-year-old New York real estate developer tapped by President Donald Trump as his Middle East envoy in November 2024 hit the ground running in 2025 with a ceasefire in Gaza, following it up with efforts to negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine and then a nuclear deal with Iran. Last June, he became “special envoy for peace missions,” reflecting his wider sphere of responsibility.

It’s been a mixed bag on the diplomatic front: Despite achieving a new ceasefire in Gaza last October, Russia and Ukraine are no closer to a peace agreement than they were under Joe Biden, and the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in February, launching a war that’s still ongoing.

But on the personal front, it’s been a very lucrative year. While he was jetting around the world from Miami and Moscow to Israel and Oman, his fortune jumped 15% to $2.3 billion, up from an estimated $2 billion when he started working for the government. That was largely thanks to his investments in crypto firm World Liberty Financial, which his sons Zach and Alex cofounded with Trump’s sons Don Jr., Eric and Barron. Forbes estimates that the Witkoffs pocketed $130 million from sales of $WLFI crypto tokens. He and his sons also sold about half of their stake in World Liberty to Aryam Investment, a firm backed by Emirati royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for an estimated $48 million (post-tax), in a transaction first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Representatives for Witkoff did not respond to requests for comment on his net worth.

That sale left him with an estimated 6.4% stake in the company’s stablecoin business, which issues USD1—a digital version of the U.S. dollar backed by Treasurys. Forbes values that stake at about $60 million based on comparable issuers of stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies backed by real-world assets that hold a constant value. He and his sons also retain about 375 million World Liberty Financial tokens, which Forbes discounts while they remain locked up, worth about $42 million. Altogether, Witkoff’s crypto investments added about $280 million to his net worth.

His crypto success follows in the footsteps of Trump, whose crypto assets now make up about a third of his $6.2 billion net worth. But Witkoff also benefited from a well-timed investment he first made back in October 2022. That’s when he put $100 million into Elon Musk’s privatization of Twitter, now known as X. That gave him an estimated 0.3% stake in the company, which was valued at $31 billion net of debt at the time.

Since then, X has merged with Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI in March 2025 and then with his rocket maker SpaceX in February, valuing the combined company at $1.25 trillion. Forbes estimates that Witkoff’s stake was diluted to a tiny 0.017%, now worth around $210 million. That means Witkoff has already doubled his investment—and it could grow even more valuable as SpaceX is set to go public later this year. Musk is reportedly targeting a valuation of more than $2 trillion in SpaceX’s upcoming IPO, a 60% premium to its current valuation.

The bulk of Witkoff’s wealth remains in the Witkoff Group, the New York-based real estate developer he founded in 1997. Forbes estimates the firm is worth $1.6 billion, with valuable assets including the Shore Club in Miami—set to feature 49 oceanfront condos and a 73-room luxury Auberge hotel—and the Shell Bay Club, a golf course, hotel and condo development in Hallandale Beach, Florida where membership fees cost $1.5 million. It’s also developing another golf club with a luxury hotel—Dutchman’s Pipe, in partnership with Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries—in Palm Beach.

“Our deep-rooted expertise in real estate development allowed us to recognize an opportune moment to establish a premier golf presence in South Florida,” said Witkoff’s son Alex, who succeeded his father as the firm’s CEO in early 2025, in a Forbes interview in October.

Despite how well his properties seem to be doing, Witkoff is seeking to distance himself from his namesake firm, at least on paper. His first financial disclosure published in September revealed that he had sold a stake in the firm for $120 million, though he didn’t disclose the name of the buyer, the date of the sale or how much of his stake he sold. His latest disclosure, made available in April, stated that he was “in the process of resigning from his positions as managing member” of the firm.

What he’s not giving up anytime soon: his personal collection of lavish homes that include an estate in the Hamptons, two properties in Miami Beach’s exclusive Sunset Islands, a condo in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood and a sprawling 60-acre farm with a 6-bedroom home and horse stables in Lexington, Kentucky. His most recent disclosure also lists an interest in a mixed-use real estate property in Marseille, France and “land development” in Mumbai, India—another overlap with Trump, who last year disclosed that he had received $10 million in development fees from a company owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries.

Given his busy travel schedule, it’s no surprise that Witkoff spent some of his earnings on a new jet. He sold his Gulfstream G650 jet last year for an estimated $40 million and replaced it with a new Bombardier Global 7500 built in 2024 that likely cost him around $75 million. He didn’t pay all of it up front: Witkoff took out about $58 million in aircraft loans from JPMorgan and M&T Bank, per his April disclosure.

That new jet has already come in handy: According to flight data from ADSB Exchange, Witkoff frequently flies it between Miami and Washington, as well as using it for diplomatic trips to Geneva, Switzerland and Muscat, Oman (for Iran talks before the outbreak of the war); Moscow (for meetings with Vladimir Putin); and talks with global leaders in Abu Dhabi, France, Germany, Israel, Italy and the U.K.

No matter how his diplomacy goes in 2026, Witkoff is likely to keep reaping the benefits of his crypto bets—as well as a potential jackpot if SpaceX stock goes to the moon.

© Forbes