A judicial watchdog organization has released financial disclosure analysis indicating that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito accumulated between $390,000 and $2.9 million from oil and gas holdings between 2005 and 2024, according to a review shared with media outlets. The analysis examined Alito’s reported assets, which grew from approximately $1.1 million in 2005 to between $3.4 million and $8.4 million by 2024. Most of the gains from fossil fuel interests derived from a mineral rights property in Oklahoma held by his wife, which generated significant rental income in recent years.
The timing of this disclosure analysis coincides with the Supreme Court’s decision to hear arguments in a case this October involving oil companies Suncor Energy and ExxonMobil, who are seeking a court ruling that federal law prevents state governments from suing fossil fuel producers over climate-related damages. The Trump administration has filed support for the oil companies in the case. Advocates for judicial transparency have called for Alito’s recusal and a Senate investigation, characterizing his financial interests in the fossil fuel industry as potentially compromising his impartiality. Alito and the court have rejected these calls.
A court spokesperson stated in May that Alito was not required to recuse based on ethics rules that focus specifically on investments in companies directly named in cases, since his holdings do not include the named defendants. However, watchdog groups argue that his substantial financial gains from the broader oil and gas industry present grounds to question whether he can impartially decide cases affecting the sector. Court Accountability’s analysis noted that Alito may have undervalued the Oklahoma property and that a relative’s adjacent plot sold for $800,000, though Alito continued reporting his holding at a lower range.
Alito’s fossil fuel investments included a bequest of ExxonMobil stock valued between $100,000 and $250,000, which he appears to have since sold, as well as smaller holdings in firms including ConocoPhillips, Chevron, and Kinder Morgan. He has recused himself from other environmental cases, including one involving ConocoPhillips, but has not done so in the current Suncor matter. His voting record includes dissents and majority positions supporting fossil fuel industry positions in environmental regulation cases. Alito has not yet filed his 2025 financial disclosure document, which was due earlier this year.
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