Jerome Powell’s Modest Salary: A Contrast to US CEOs Amidst Recession Fears
By Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, recently revealed to investor David Rubenstein that he earns a salary of around $190,000 per year.[0] This figure is a far cry from the median pay for CEOs of the top 100 US companies, which according to Equilar data cited by Fortune stands at about $20 million.[0]
Powell, who is the most influential figure presiding over the US economy and one of the key figures in global financial markets, was asked whether he thought his salary was fair.[0] He replied that if his family expenses exceeded his salary, they would have to sell an asset to cover the difference.[1]
The current pandemic era saw the Fed embark on a massive campaign to ease monetary policy in order to keep the economy afloat.[0] However, since the start of 2022, those efforts have been wound down in favor of aggressive interest rate increases meant to tame inflation that's soared to four-decade highs.[1] Powell has faced criticism over his policy guidance during the past year, with commentators from Mohamed El-Erian to Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel warning that the Fed could botch its mission to tame high inflation and throw the economy into a recession.[0]
Data from the Consumer Price Index for January revealed that annualized inflation came in at 6.4%, lower than the preceding month but higher than the forecast of 6.2%.[1] DataTrek noted that the New York Fed's Recession Probabilities model, which is based on the spread between the three-month and 10-year Treasury yields, shows the odds of a recession in the next 12 months is at 57%, the highest it's been since the early 1980s.[1]
0. “Fed chief Jerome Powell says he earns $190,000 a year to be one of the world's key financial players – and he” Business Insider India, 14 Feb. 2023, https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/fed-chief-jerome-powell-says-he-earns-190000-a-year-to-be-one-of-the-worlds-key-financial-players-and-he-thinks-thats-a-fair-number/articleshow/97925114.cms
1. “Fed Chair Jerome Powell says he earns $190,000 salary, and that's fair” Markets Insider, 14 Feb. 2023, https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/jerome-powell-salary-fed-chairman-fair-central-bank-chief-economy-2023-2
