Jerome Powell sparks debate by revealing his salary at Economic Club of Washington

Mr Powell claims that he makes around $190,000, but others aren’t so sure

Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, was speaking at the Economic Club of Washington on Tuesday when he was asked a presumably straightforward question: what’s his salary?

Mr Powell’s response, that the Federal Reserve chair makes “around $190,000,” sparked debate — including from observers who quickly pointed out that Mr Powell did not appear to come up with the correct number.

According to the Federal Reserve website, Congress set the chair’s annual salary at $203,500 in 2019. Since then, it appears that the number has increased — David Gura of NPR tweeted a screenshot of a document from the Office of Personnel Management showing that the chair currently makes $226,300.

Of course, it may be difficult for Mr Powell to keep track of all his money. The former investment banker, who was appointed chair of the Federal Reserve by Donald Trump in 2018, is believed to have a net worth of between $20m and $55m.

Mr Powell appeared at the Economic Club of Washington in conversation with billionaire David Rubenstein, his former colleague at the Carlyle Group. After asking Mr Powell what his salary is, Mr Rubenstein asked him whether he feels that his salary is fair.

When Mr Powell replied in the affirmative, a number of audience members laughed. Some observers on Twitter wrote that Mr Powell should ask for a pay increase given the importance and requirements of his position, while others noted that his current salary number is of little relative importance given his total savings.

Mr Powell was also asked at the event about the state of inflation in the United States as well as the most recent jobs report, which showed the country adding more than 500,000 jobs in January.

“We expect 2023 to be a year of significant declines in inflation,” Mr Powell said.