Jerome Powell

The most consequential central banker of his generation, Powell steered the Fed through the fastest tightening cycle since Volcker, the 2023 banking crisis, and the 2024 pivot to cuts — before facing an unprecedented political attack from Trump in 2025. His refusal to cut rates under presidential pressure became a test case for central bank independence.

Jerome Hayden Powell was born on February 4, 1953, in Washington DC. A lawyer by training (Princeton, Georgetown Law), he worked at investment bank Dillon Read, the Treasury Department under George H.W. Bush, and private equity at The Carlyle Group before joining the Federal Reserve Board as a Governor in 2012. Nominated as Chair by Trump in 2017 and reconfirmed by Biden in 2022, he has served longer than any Fed Chair since Greenspan.