In campaign materials, congressional candidate Sara Jacobs talks about cracking down on drug makers, lenders and other special interests that have taken advantage of consumers.

“We have an unfair economic system that gives access to opportunity to some while leaving so many others behind,” Jacobs wrote in a description of her campaign priorities. “I want to empower workers and grow wages and benefits.”

According to her recently released personal financial disclosure, however, Jacobs has millions of dollars invested in pharmaceutical companies, private-equity funds and large banks, which have been criticized for not serving consumers’ best interests.

Jacobs is a third-generation San Diego County resident and a product of public schools, who went on to serve as an Obama administration contractor and a UNICEF data expert. She also was born into wealth as a granddaughter of Qualcomm Inc. founder Irwin Jacobs.


Her eight-page financial disclosure, which lists ranges for the value of certain investments, shows Jacobs is worth between $14 million and $65 million. Much of the money is invested in the family business — real estate and private-equity firms with big stakes in financial services.

The Jacobs campaign said the candidate takes special care to direct her personal fortune toward socially responsible ventures that are designed to promote the most good possible.

“Sara is proud of the impact investment strategy she has implemented with her personal finances,” spokeswoman Morgan Hill said by email. “She takes seriously her responsibility to invest in a way that reflects her values, like environmental responsibility and access to health care.”

Most of Jacobs’ investments are part of a trust set up years ago by relatives.


“All of that is actually controlled by her family, so she doesn’t have any influence over how those funds are invested,” Hill said.

At least one campaign rival said the investments show Jacobs may not be leveling with voters.

“When she’s talking to voters, Sara Jacobs claims she’s ready to shake up Washington’s policies that favor pharmaceutical companies, banks and hedge funds,” said Dan Rottenstreich, who is working to elect Georgette Gómez to the open congressional seat.

“But when she’s at home, she’s just another millionaire investing in the special interests that are making it harder for working families to make ends meet,” Rottenstreich said.


The financial disclosure filed last month shows Jacobs owns considerable stakes in giant lending institutions, such as Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase and in international drugmakers such as Merck & Co. and Gilead Sciences Inc.

Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase have each been the subject of multiple federal investigations over the years.

In 2012, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase were among five banks that agreed to pay a $25 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice for their roles in the 2008 mortgage crisis, which cost millions of people their jobs and homes — and sparked a worldwide recession.

The drug companies have long been accused of inflating the cost of prescription medication, which often forces patients to choose between paying for badly needed medicine and other staples such as food or housing.


In 2008, Merck agreed to pay $671 million to settle a fraud case accusing the company of overcharging the government for four popular prescriptions. Ten years later, the company was sued for allegedly delaying the availability of generic drugs to boost profits.

The chief executive at Gilead Sciences, meanwhile, was called before a congressional committee last spring to explain why the cost of a popular HIV treatment had more than tripled in 15 years — to more than $20,000 a year. The same drug costs $100 a year in other countries.

Drug company executives say they need to charge top dollar for medicine to pay for ongoing research. Nonetheless, like the cost of health insurance, the price of prescription drugs has become a key issue in the 2020 campaign.

Jacobs owns up to $10 million in Bank of America accounts and up to $50,000 in JPMorgan Chase stock, according to her financial disclosure. She also owns between $50,001 and $100,000 in shares of Merck & Co. and between $15,001 and $50,000 in Gilead Sciences holdings.


Hill, Jacobs’ campaign spokeswoman, said the candidate plans to place all of her assets into a blind trust if she is among the top two vote-getters next week and wins in November.

“When Sara is elected to Congress, she will immediately move her investments into a blind trust, a responsibility she believes should be required of all Members of Congress,” she said.

Jacobs is far wealthier than her two main rivals.

Gómez reported personal assets of up to $15,000 on deposit in a local credit union and an annual income from her City Council job of just over $76,000.


Janessa Goldbeck disclosed up to $15,000 on deposit with Bank of America and annual income between $50,001 and $100,000 last year from her company, Sui Generis Strategies LLC.