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Kevin Warsh would enter the world’s most powerful central bank with a fortune of at least $131 million, according to financial disclosures released Tuesday – an amount that would make him the wealthiest chair in the Federal Reserve’s history.
The U.S. Office of Government Ethics released his nearly 70-page financial disclosures, part of the standard vetting process for senior government nominees.
The filings also show that Warsh’s wife, Jane Lauder – an heiress to the global beauty company Estée Lauder and a businesswoman – holds millions of dollars in additional assets, further adding to the family’s overall wealth.
His potential ascent comes at a turbulent moment for the central bank.
The Federal Reserve is facing mounting pressure on multiple fronts, including a Justice Department criminal probe involving Chair Jerome Powell, a Supreme Court case weighing limits on the Fed’s independence, and persistent cost-of-living concerns testing President Donald Trump’s economic agenda.
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Adding to the uncertainty, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., is holding up Warsh’s nomination amid bipartisan concerns tied to the probe involving Powell.
Even so, lawmakers are preparing to move forward with the confirmation process.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said Tuesday that a confirmation hearing is scheduled for next week.
“It’ll be a two-step process,” Scott said on FOX Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria.” “Next week, we’ll have a hearing with Kevin Warsh. We’ll talk through the economy, price stability and inflation, and the independence of the Fed. And then the second step later on, we’ll have a vote.”
Scott added that he expects broad Republican support for Warsh, noting the nominee previously advanced through the Senate by unanimous consent.
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However, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has emerged as a key holdout.
Tillis has previously vowed to block any Federal Reserve nominee until the Trump administration concludes its criminal probe involving Powell. As a member of the Senate Banking Committee, his opposition carries significant weight. Overriding it would require a discharge vote on the Senate floor – an extraordinary step requiring 60 votes and widely seen as a long shot.
Last month, Tillis met with Warsh on Capitol Hill. Ahead of the meeting, Tillis told Fox News Digital that he supports Warsh – whom Trump tapped in January – but wants the Powell investigation resolved before backing the nomination.
“I have very few questions. I’m a real fan of [Warsh], and I’m hoping we can get disposition of the Powell investigation, so I’d be in a position to vote for him,” Tillis told Fox News Digital.
Powell confirmed the DOJ investigation in a Jan. 11 video statement, calling the move “unprecedented” and describing it as another example of what he said were Trump’s ongoing threats against the central bank.
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His decision to respond so publicly – after days of private consultation with advisors – marked a sharp departure from his typically measured approach during his eight-year tenure leading the Fed.
Powell, widely viewed as one of the most crisis-tested Federal Reserve chairs in modern U.S. history, built his career as a lawyer and investment banker in New York before entering public service in the administration of President George H.W. Bush.
He joined the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors in 2012 and was nominated by Trump to lead the central bank in 2017.
Like Powell, Warsh is not an economist by training. Instead, he brings a background in law and finance that has shaped his views on the Federal Reserve.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Stanford University in 1992 and a law degree from Harvard in 1995. He built his career at Morgan Stanley and, at 35, became the youngest person to serve on the Fed’s board in 2006.
Though he stepped down in 2011, he was widely recognized as the Fed’s key liaison to Wall Street during the 2008 financial crisis. He previously worked in the Bush administration as a special assistant to the president for economic policy and executive secretary at the National Economic Council.
Warsh was among Trump’s leading candidates to replace Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen in 2017. However, Trump ultimately nominated Powell to the role.
