Kevin Warsh, a former United States Federal Reserve governor chosen by President Donald Trump to lead the central bank, has submitted financial disclosures indicating he holds assets worth well more than $100m, putting him on track to be the wealthiest central bank leader ever if confirmed. It is difficult to estimate net worth from US government ethics forms because assets are valued in broad and sometimes open-ended categories. Warsh’s filing, made public on Tuesday, also includes a notable number of gaps and pledges to divest assets if confirmed.
That said, the form gives an extensive accounting of the prospective Fed leader’s personal wealth. The 69-page disclosure includes two investments worth more than $50m each in the Juggernaut Fund LP and $10.2m in consulting fees from the investment office of Wall Street giant Stanley Druckenmiller. The Juggernaut Fund investments, for example, come with the caveat that the underlying assets “are not disclosed due to pre-existing confidentiality agreements”, with a promise from Warsh that “I will divest this asset if confirmed.” Warsh’s financial disclosures will almost certainly be a focus of his upcoming confirmation hearing next week, before the end of current Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s leadership term next month.
Federal Reserve ethics rules formalised in 2022 sharply limit what Fed officials and their immediate families can hold and how they can manage their investments. Those rules prevent ownership of bank stocks and crypto-related investments, among other restrictions, and limit how Fed officials can buy and sell holdings, for example. The central bank’s ethics rules, which are set by the Federal Open Market Committee, are more stringent than those of the rest of the government.
Warsh’s large-scale investments are among a series of holdings, including about two dozen in THSDFS LLC, some individually worth as much as $5m, where details were withheld and which Warsh also pledged to divest if confirmed. OGE analyst Heather Jones, who signed off on Warsh’s document, noted those commitments in her review and said that “once the filer divests these assets, he will be in compliance” with the Ethics in Government Act. The document lists dozens of other assets without stating the value, mostly focused, judging by the names, in artificial intelligence and crypto, among other sectors.
Those holdings include Cafe X, described as a robotic coffee bar platform; a “bionic movement-enhancing wearable clothing” firm called Cionic; Blast, notated as “yield-generating Ethereum layer two”; and Contraline, a “reversible male contraceptive solution”. The holdings of Warsh’s spouse, Jane Lauder, whose family interests include the Estee Lauder cosmetics company and who Forbes Magazine estimates has a net worth of about $1.9bn, were also included. Some of Lauder’s municipal bond holdings were valued simply at “over $1 million.” Warsh’s liabilities appear comparatively limited, including a 2015 mortgage of up to $5m from JP Morgan Chase at 2.75 percent, a revolving line of credit of up to $5m from PNC Bank listed at a rate of approximately 6 percent, and capital commitments of $1,950,000 to THSDFS LLC, one of the interests he has promised to divest.
The filing of Warsh’s paperwork with the ethics office is a key step in his expected confirmation to succeed Powell. The potential Fed leader’s wealth, which appears to significantly exceed that of Powell, points to a potentially challenging vetting process for legislators. Warsh’s financial position also stands in sharp relief to that of most Americans and more closely aligns with the substantial wealth held by top Trump officials like Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
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