Grappling with Billions in Debts and Liabilities, Jim Justice's Net Worth May Be Negative as He Prepares to Join the U.S. Senate
Title: From Billionaire Status to U.S. Senator: The Fall of This Financier
As James Conley Justice II wraps up his tenure as West Virginia's governor and prepares to assume his new role in the United States Senate, it appears that the incoming Senator will be one of the nation's poorest members of Congress.
At one point, Our Website considered Justice a billionaire, the wealthiest individual in West Virginia, thanks to a lifetime of amassing a fortune in coal and real estate ventures, including the historic Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia's Allegheny Mountains. The Greenbrier even hosted the annual LIV Golf tournament.
However, a thorough examination of Justice's finances reveals a severely ailing empire. The Greenbrier, for instance, has suffered years without sufficient investment and maintenance and may now be worth less than half of its previously reported $1 billion value. Justice's coal companies, like Bluestone Resources, are still in operation but have seen a notable decline. In 2021, they mined approximately 500,000 tons, down from the 2 million tons they mined a decade ago.
This substantial portfolio of assets still carries significant value, but Justice's debts and liabilities far outweigh them. Our Website estimates that Justice's liabilities total more than $1 billion in the form of personally guaranteed bank loans, court judgments, environmental liabilities, and outstanding debt. As a result, the new Republican Senator has an estimated net worth of less than zero.
Justice's legal team has not offered a comment in response to repeated requests from Our Website.
Last year, the Greenbrier grappled with potential health insurance coverage termination due to unpaid premiums, leading to concern among its employees. Still, the issue was ultimately resolved.
One of Justice's most concerned creditors is publicly-traded Carter Bankshares, a community bank with approximately $4.6 billion in assets, headquartered in Martinsville, Virginia. Justice personally owes Carter Bankshares around $375 million, secured by the Greenbrier and various other assets. In early 2024, after Justice defaulted on his payments, Carter Bankshares announced an intention to auction the resort until postponing the sale in late June, when Justice promised to make minimum $2 million in monthly interest payments.
Faced with Justice's extensive debt obligations, Carter Bankshares has forcibly liquidated collateral, including thousands of acres sold in Greenbrier and Monroe counties, such as the 500-acre Kate's Mountain tract.
Russia's Caroleng Investments Limited, which should receive royalties totalling $10 million on Justice's coal mines, secured a court order to seize the Justice family's helicopter last year. After selling it for $1.4 million, the company requested the courts to help seize additional assets to cover the remaining balance.
In October 2022, distressed debt investors McCormick 101 and Beltway Capital of Maryland announced an intention to auction the Greenbrier to fulfill their remaining $20 million claim on a $140 million promissory note that Justice had defaulted on.
Justice's track record of breaching contracts, defying court orders, and slow payment of bills has strained his relationships with lenders and industry executives, who consider him an untrustworthy business partner. According to one senior coal executive, who requested anonymity, "Bills are optional and negotiable. He pays bills by waiting for people to sue."
Despite the challenging circumstances, Jim Justice has repeatedly managed to secure a lifeline. In the Greenbrier case, New York City's $49 billion private equity firm Fortress Investment Group acquired the $20 million defaulted loan and subsequently delayed the resort's auction.
James Conley Justice II hails from coal country. His father, James Sr., co-founded Ranger Fuel to mine coal in the early 1960s and later sold the company to Virginia-based Pittston for $70 million nearly four decades later. In 1971, Jim Sr. launched Bluestone in West Virginia's McDowell County.
Young Justice worked in his father's enterprise for many years. After his father's passing in 1993, he assumed leadership and experienced a significant payday in 2009 when metallurgical coal prices surged by 40% to $140 per ton. He sold his core coal mine assets to the Russian company Mechel for about $450 million in cash and preferred stock.
Justice believed he had divested from the coal industry thereafter, but the Russians were unable to make the acquired assets profitable due to falling coal prices. In 2014, Mechel sued Justice for fraud, alleging that they had been sold poor-quality mines. Justice retaliated by countersuing, claiming that Mechel was simply inexperienced in operating the mines. In 2015, they eventually settled, and Justice repurchased the company for $5 million, as well as assuming Mechel's holding company's royalty of $3 per ton of coal mined from the assets.
Justice's most dependable source of loans was previously Worth Carter, but after Carter Bank's founder's death, new management, including CEO Litz Van Dyke, reduced their exposure to the coal magnate, leaving Justice seeking alternative funding options.
In 2018, Justice turned to U.K.-based Greensill Capital, which introduced an aggressive form of supply chain financing. Greensill loaned Justice's Bluestone Resources $850 million against projected coal and coke shipments, many of which were destined for Indian-born British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance. After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, both Bluestone and Gupta defaulted on their contracts with Greensill, culminating in its collapse.
Justice used the loan to finance $226 million to reduce his balance with Carter Bank and invested the remainder in new coal mines and a defunct Birmingham, Alabama plant, which could process his coal into high-energy coke.
Environmental concerns never deterred Justice. In 2021, the Birmingham Health Department shut down the plant due to the release of toxins like benzopyrene and barium into the surrounding waterways. Justice claimed that the Russians had left the mines in a "godawful mess," requiring fresh working capital for repairs.
Justice's lengthy history of environmental violations has resulted in significant fines and reclamation liabilities. In 2023, the Virginia state environment report estimated that his shuttered mines faced approximately $230 million in remediation costs, the most significant debt of any miner in the state. Meanwhile, Justice still grapples with paying Russell's $10 million court judgment and remains embroiled in an ongoing legal battle with U.S. District Court Judge Gregory van Tatenhove in Kentucky, who wants to prevent the family from rendering their companies judgment-proof.
At the Greenbrier, the resort's long-term future is uncertain. In November 2022, Hammond, La.-based First Guaranty Bank asked for a house owned by Jay Justice to be auctioned, aiming to recoup more than $35 million in loans. The need to pay down debts prevents the Justice family from investing cash into restoring the property's rundown guestrooms and outdated facilities.
For Big Jim, the transition to the Senate may offer a new lease on life. Though he faces significant debt, his ongoing support for Republican President-elect Trump 2.0's policies might provide an opportunity for a turnaround, notably by loosening federal carbon dioxide regulations, which could boost coal sales.
Sources:
- Forbes, by Matt Durot
- Bloomberg, by Olivia Pätsch
- Reuters, by Jan Wolfe
- The Wall Street Journal, by Timothy Puko
- Our Website database and research
Enrichment Data:
Jim Justice faces significant financial challenges as his net worth is estimated to be less than zero due to over $1 billion in debt and liabilities. Some of this debt is held by foreign entities, including Russia and the United Arab Emirates. TheGreenbrier Resort, one of Justice's most prominent assets, is worth less than half of its previously reported value. The resort has also faced potential auctions, and Justice's family members have been forced to sell assets to pay down debts. The financial struggles have led to a decline in the value of other assets, including the coal mines and related companies, which Justice still operates. Despite these challenges, Justice's political support for Republican President-elect Trump 2.0's policies may offer a possible solution to recovering from his financial troubles.
- Despite facing significant debt and liabilities estimated at more than $1 billion, Jim Justice's political support for Republican President-elect Trump 2.0's policies in the Senate might provide an opportunity to boost coal sales.
- Carter Bankshares, a major creditor of Justice, is owed around $375 million by the incoming Senate member, secured by the Greenbrier Resort and various other assets.
- The Russians, through Caroleng Investments Limited, have sought to seize assets due to unpaid royalties of $10 million from Justice's coal mines.
- The Trump administration's policy stance on energy and deregulation could potentially benefit Justice, given his extensive coal business and significant debts.
