- President Trump is expected to announce his Federal Reserve chair pick on Friday morning
- Top contenders include Rick Rieder, Kevin Hassett, Christopher Waller, and Kevin Warsh
- Hassett is a conservative economist and close Trump adviser, currently leading the National Economic Council
United States President Donald Trump is likely to announce his choice for the next Federal Reserve chair on Friday. Among the top contenders for the high-profile post are BlackRock executive Rick Rieder, a well known figure on Wall Street and regarded as an expert in the global bond markets and monetary policy, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, current Fed Governor Christopher Waller and former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh.
Also Read: Trump Says He Will Announce Fed Pick Friday Morning
Ahead of Trump's announcement, the focus remains on the profile and experience of these top contenders as analysts and investors gauge their potential approach toward Fed policies.
Here's a closer look at the contenders in the race:
Hassett, a long-time conservative economist and close adviser to Trump, is being seen as a leading candidate to succeed Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair. The 63-year-old previously led the White House Council of Economic Advisers during Trump's first term and now heads the National Economic Council.
He has consistently defended Trump's economic agenda, often playing down data pointing to weakness in the US economy. In the past, he has served as chief economic adviser to John McCain during the 2000 primaries and later advised the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush in 2004, McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012.
His closeness to Trump has raised concerns among analysts about his independence if appointed to the Fed.
Waller has served on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors since 2020. Before joining the Board, he was executive vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis from 2009. The 67-year-old also has an academic background and has served as a professor of economics and held the Gilbert F. Schaefer Chair at the University of Notre Dame.
He served as an assistant and associate professor at Indiana University's Department of Economics and was later director of graduate studies from 1992 to 1994. He then joined the University of Kentucky, where he held the Carol Martin Gatton Chair in Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics from 1998 to 2003. During that period, he was also a research fellow at the University of Bonn's Center for European Integration Studies.
He earned a BS in economics from Bemidji State University and completed both his MA and PhD at Washington State University.
Kevin Warsh served as a Federal Reserve governor from 2006 to 2011. Seen as a prominent successor to Powell, the 55-year-old was also considered for Fed chair during Trump's first term.
Warsh has been a vocal critic of the Fed and has repeatedly attacked its reliance on data and asset policies. He also enjoys close family ties to Trump through his father-in-law, billionaire Ronald Lauder.
Born in New York, he studied at Stanford University and earned a bachelor's degree with honours in 1992. He then attended Harvard Law School and in 1995, joined Morgan Stanley & Co. in New York.
In February 2002, Warsh left his role as vice president and executive director at Morgan Stanley to join President George W. Bush's administration. He served as special assistant for economic policy and as executive secretary at the National Economic Council.
In 2006, Bush nominated him to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. He is now a visiting fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution and a lecturer at the Graduate School of Business. He also serves on the board of United Parcel Service.
Rick Rieder is a senior executive at BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager. He is the Chief Investment Officer for global fixed income. In this role, he oversees more than $2.4 trillion in assets.
Before joining BlackRock in 2009, Rieder was the founder and CEO of R3 Capital Partners. From 1987 to 2008, he worked at Lehman Brothers. Earlier, he was a credit analyst at SunTrust Banks.
Rieder has worked with the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve on advisory committees. He is known for being sympathetic to lower interest rates. He also serves on several advisory boards, including Alphabet/Google and UBS.
He earned a BBA in Finance from Emory University and an MBA from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1987.
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