Jerome Powell

Jerome Hayden "Jay" Powell (born February 4, 1953) is an American central banker who has been the 16th chair of the Federal Reserve since 2018. He was previously both a lawyer and investment banker in the private sector before entering public service.

A native of Washington, D.C., Powell graduated from Princeton University and the Georgetown University Law Center. After working as an attorney for five years, he began a career in investment banking and private equity during the mid-1980s, eventually becoming a partner at the Carlyle Group in 1997. He left Carlyle in 2005 to launch Severn Capital Partners, a boutique private equity firm. He was a visiting scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center from 2010 to 2012.

Powell entered public service in 1990, serving in multiple positions within the United States Treasury Department under President George H. W. Bush. He became a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors upon President Barack Obama's nomination in 2012. President Donald Trump elevated Powell to Chair in 2018 and President Joe Biden re-nominated him in 2021. As a Fed governor, Powell built a reputation during the 2010s as a consensus-builder in Washington.

Under Powell, the Federal Reserve has navigated the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021–2023 inflation surge, and global trade instability. His tenure saw a broad uplift in financial markets apart from two stock markets declines in 2020 and in 2022. The scale and type of monetary stimulus pursued by Powell led to a noted divergence between the U.S. economy and the nation's financial sector, leading to mixed reception among the American public.