William Weld may want to look to Governor Pataki for investment advice.

Tax returns released yesterday by the Republican candidate for governor showed that Mr. Weld suffered a loss of more than $500,000 from his failed investment in a now-defunct trade school in Kentucky that is under investigation for alleged financial aid fraud.

Meanwhile, Mr. Pataki is leaving Albany making the most money since he took office, with a major chunk of it coming from a lucrative real estate deal in Florida. And the governor’s would-be successors reported 2005 household incomes ranging from $131,397 to $1.35 million.

In May 2004, the governor bought a one-story rental house near the ocean in North Palm Beach, Fla., for $360,000. He sold it last October for $675,000 to an investment executive from Virginia, the Associated Press reported.

The sale of the house netted the governor a total profit of $275,000 and raised the earnings of the couple to $775,169, almost four times what the pair earned when Mr. Pataki entered office in 1995 and a 47% increase over the prior year, according to the Associated Press. The governor’s influx of cash comes as Mr. Pataki considers a possible run for the White House.

The buyer of the house, Peter Clarke of Fairfax Station, Va., said he has no connection to Mr. Pataki aside from the purchase, the Associated Press reported.

The rest of the governor’s income came from familiar sources. On top of his $179,000 annual salary as governor, he was paid $144,000 for 10 speeches. His wife, Libby Pataki, earned $17,000 for two speeches and $222,665 from consulting jobs, including $80,000 from a company controlled by cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder.

Mr. Weld, a former governor of Massachusetts, and Mr. Pataki both made public their tax returns yesterday. The other candidates for governor – Democrats Eliot Spitzer and Thomas Suozzi and Republican John Faso – released their returns last Friday.

Mr. Weld and his wife, author Leslie Marshall – who own homes in the Adirondacks, on Long Island, and on the Upper East Side – reported a total income of $540,077 and paid more than $130,000 in taxes. The couple gave $34,900 to charity.

He posted a loss of $530,000 from his investment in Decker College, which collapsed into bankruptcy as the federal government put it under investigation for allegedly cheating the government out of financial aid money. Mr. Weld, who served as CEO of the school last year, has denied any wrongdoing, but questions surrounding his role at the school have dogged him throughout the campaign. Mr. Weld, whose investment firm Leeds Weld had a minority stake in the school, is seeking to recoup $3 million for a loan he took out to keep the school running.

Ironically, his financial loss could help boost his case before voters. Mr. Weld, the scion of an old money Long Island family, has defended himself by pointing out that he has lost money from his investment in the school, which sharply increased enrollment under his watch.

Mr. Spitzer, the state attorney general and the son of a wealthy New York developer, led the way with earnings of more than $1.35 million and reportedly contributed 7% of his income to charity. A former assemblyman from upstate, Mr. Faso, who is seeking the Republican nomination, reported just under $400,000 in household income, with most of the money coming from his work as a lobbyist. They donated 2% of their income to charity.

The executive of Nassau County, Mr. Suozzi, and his wife earned just over $130,000 and also gave 2% of their income to charity, the Associated Press reported.