• In September 2025, following the fatal shooting of conservative pundit and Turning Point USA co-founder and CEO Charlie Kirk, a rumor began to spread that his widow, Erika Kirk, had launched an online fundraiser that raised millions of dollars despite already being a multimillionaire. Critics accused her of “grift.”
• Financial news website ValueWalk estimated the Kirks’ net worth as $12 million in 2025. However, Snopes could not independently verify this valuation.
• Several fundraising efforts organized to support Erika Kirk raised millions of dollars combined. While most were organized by groups that had no direct ties to the Kirk family, one was linked to Charlie Kirk’s official website. We could not verify that fundraiser’s degree of independence from the family. 
• We could, however, confirm that the top four fundraisers in support of the Kirk family had raised nearly $9 million combined. 

After the fatal shooting of conservative pundit and Turning Point USA co-founder and CEO Charlie Kirk, a rumor began to spread that his widow, Erika Kirk, had launched an online fundraiser that raised millions of dollars despite already being a multimillionaire. 

Some users accused her of “grift,” suggesting she was rich enough not to need more money following her husband’s death, as in one X post (archived) that included a photograph of Erika Kirk drying her tears with a napkin and a screenshot of another post that read, “Why does a man’s wife do a GoFundMe when he’s worth $12 million? Grifting.”:

As of this writing, the post had more than 5 million views and 198,000 likes. The claim spread elsewhere on X and on Facebook.

ValueWalk, a highly regarded website in financial circles that covers news and produces content to help people manage their personal finances, estimated Charlie Kirk’s net worth to be around $12 million in 2025, including income from Turning Point USA and from speaking engagements, as well as his real estate portfolio. The last update on that article was made on Sept. 11, 2025. Presumably, Erika Kirk and the couple’s children would have inherited at least part of these assets. Snopes could not independently verify that this net-worth estimate was accurate.

However, while Snopes identified online fundraisers that raised millions of dollars to support Erika Kirk and her children, we found no evidence she set them up herself.

The highest-funded fundraiser appeared not on the popular fundraising platform GoFundMe, as the post above suggested, but on a platform GiveSendGo. It was created by ALP Pouches, a nicotine pouch company owned by conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, who started his career on Fox News. Its goal was $6 million, and as of this writing, it had raised $5.3 million. The fundraiser was explicitly in support of Erika Kirk and the children. The fundraising page read:

Charlie leaves behind his wife, Erika, and their two young children. As they navigate this unimaginable loss, we want to rally together to provide security and stability for Charlie’s loved ones.

Our goal is to raise as much as possible to support the Kirk family. ALP has contributed $1 million to this effort, and we invite you to join us in honoring Charlie’s legacy by giving whatever you are able. 

Carlson promoted this fundraiser in an X post the day after Kirk’s death (archived):

The second-highest fundraiser also appeared on GiveSendGo. The group behind this one identified itself as “friends of the Kirk family.” As of this writing, it had raised more than $2 million. It also directed people who wanted to donate more than $100,000 to an email address attached to Charlie Kirk’s official website. It also included the disclaimer “THIS IS THE OFFICIAL SUPPORT PAGE FOR THE KIRK FAMILY” at the beginning of the fundraiser’s description. We could not verify how close the organizers of this fundraiser were to Erika Kirk or whether she was involved in creating it. We contacted the organizers asking for more details and will update this report should they respond.

Another fundraiser on GiveSendGo came from an organization known as Liberty Memes Foundation, which vowed to give the funds to the Kirk family. It had raised just under $1 million as of this writing. 

A fourth was set up by conservative commentator Glenn Beck’s 9-12 Project. It had raised about $640,000 as of this writing. 

These four fundraisers combined had raised nearly $9 million for the family. Other, smaller fundraisers for Kirk’s family appeared both on GiveSendGo and GoFundMe, though none had raised as much money as these four.

For further reading, Snopes also debunked a rumor that Erika Kirk was pregnant at the time of her husband’s death. In addition, we’ve examined a number of other claims surrounding Kirk’s death.