Kevin Warsh’s net worth: The Trump Fed nominee’s wealth & income

On Jan. 30, 2026, President Doland Trump formally announced that he had nominated Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as Chairman of the Federal Reserve beginning in May. If confirmed, he’ll bring years of previous Fed experience—and his millionaire net worth—to the central bank. 

Current Fed Chair Powell was nominated for the position by Trump in 2017, during his first term—something the president appeared to forget when criticizing Powell during the summer of 2025. 

If the Senate confirms Warsh’s nomination, he will succeed Powell, serving a four-year term at the helm of the central bank beginning in May, leading the Federal Open Market Committee in setting interest rates to balance inflation and employment. 

Most Fed Chair nominees are existing members of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, and while Warsh isn’t currently on the board, he previously served from 2006 to 2011, a tumultuous economic period during which the central bank responded to the infamous 2008 financial crisis. 

Now that he’s set to step back onto the board and into the Chairman’s seat, here’s what you need to know about Kevin Warsh’s wealth and career. 

Kevin Warsh’s net worth in 2026

Estimates of Warsh’s net worth vary widely, starting at around $7 million on the low end, reported by GuruFocus in early 2026. Benzinga estimated his wealth higher, at $9.12 million in late 2025. 

Celebrity Net Worth lists his wealth substantially higher, at $2.7 billion. This figure likely includes the wealth of his wife, Estée Lauder heiress Jane Lauder, whose net worth is listed by Forbes at $2.4 billion as of early 2026. Lauder reportedly still works for her late grandmother’s namesake cosmetics company. 

The two wed in 2002. 

How much will Kevin Warsh make as Fed chair? 

If appointed Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, Warsh will receive an annual salary of $250,600. This is the pay level for all Level I Executive Schedule positions, including the Secretary of State and the Social Security Commissioner. 

Who is Kevin Warsh? 

Warsh, born in 1970 in Albany, spent his youth in New York State before attending Stanford University for undergrad. Next, he attended Harvard Law, graduating cum laude in 1995. 

After school, he launched his career in corporate finance, working on mergers and acquisitions for banking giant Morgan Stanley until 2002. He spent the next few years in a White House position, serving as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Executive Secretary of the National Economic Council during the Bush administration, advising the President on economic policy.

Kevin Warsh’s first stint at the Federal Reserve

In 2006, Warsh became the youngest-ever member of the Federal Reserve. Bush nominated him, along with economist Randall Kroszner, to fill two vacant seats at the central bank. While some were dubious of his appointment due to his youth and relative inexperience, Warsh was confident that his Wall Street know-how and corporate finance experience at Morgan Stanley would serve him well in the role.

According to then-chair Ben Bernanke, Warsh’s political and Wall Street contacts helped the Fed navigate the financial crisis, saying that Warsh was among his “most frequent companions on the endless conference calls through which we shaped our crisis-fighting strategy” in his memoir about the ordeal. 

Nevertheless, many of Warsh’s efforts during the financial meltdown were unsuccessful, including his attempts to facilitate mergers between Goldman Sachs and other banking giants, as discussed in Andrew Sorkin’s book, Too Big to Fail. 

Still, his experience at Morgan Stanley allowed him insight into the fragility of the large banks of the day. During an FOMC meeting in March of 2008, he shared his prescient opinion that “the business model of investment banks has been threatened, and I suspect the existing business model will not endure through this period.”

As the crisis continued and the Fed responded, however, Warsh was criticized for his focus on inflation and reticence to continue quantitative easing measures. While Warsh did vote for a second round of QE in keeping with Bernanke’s leadership, he voiced his concerns over the strategy in an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal.

Warsh resigned from his position at the Fed in 2011 on good terms, with Bernanke stating in his memoir that the two remained “good friends to this day.” 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cnF34szO0ec

Will Kevin Warsh lower interest rates as Fed Chair? 

Trump has been very vocal in his criticisms of the Fed, which center on its reluctance to rapidly lower interest rates in the wake of the inflation surge that struck the American economy in recent years. He has made it clear that he expects Warsh to advocate for additional rate cuts, saying, “Oh, he’s going to lower them … I hope he’s going to lower, but you know, he’s gonna have to do what he wants to do” during a speech.

That being said, although presidents do appoint most of the Fed’s voting members, the Federal Reserve is designed to be relatively independent from the executive branch when it comes to setting monetary policy.

Historically, Warsh has been considered “hawkish,” indicating a preference for higher rates, but given his selection as Trump’s nominee, he will clearly face pressure from the Trump administration to push for additional rate cuts in the near term.

Ultimately, however, these decisions will be made by the Federal Open Market Committee as a whole.