Democrat Janet Yellen is the current United States Secretary of the Treasury and former chair of the Federal Reserve. She is the first woman to hold both positions. The long-running public servant is an economist, public speaker, and former professor. As of 2022, Janet Yellen has a net worth of $20 million.
Early Life
Janet Louise Yellen was born on August 13, 1946. She was raised with her brother, John, in Bay Ridge, New York City and her family is of Polish Jewish descent.. Her mother, Anna, was a teacher, and her father, Julius, was a physician.
She was an outstanding student at Fort Hamilton High School, where she joined many clubs and became valedictorian. She went to Pembroke College in Brown University.
Young Janet initially studied philosophy but later switched to economics. a move that has served her well. After graduating summa cum laude, she attended Yale University to get her master’s degree and earned her Ph.D. from the same institution in 1971.
Early Career
Yellen first worked in 1971 at Harvard University as an Assistant Professor of Economics. About six years later, she left to join the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors and later on, she was hired as a lecturer at the London School of Economics.
In 1980, she worked at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Throughout her academic career, Janet was an award-winning professor and economist.
Her work mostly focused on monetary policies, labor markets, unemployment, and international trade. Her most notable contributions include reproductive technology shock and efficiency wage models.
Government Work
In 1994, she took leave from Berkeley and during this time, Janet was chosen to be part of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. She left in 1997 to become chairperson of the Council of Economic Advisers.
The professor went back to teaching in 1999 but returned to the Federal Reserve in 2004. In 2014, she was chosen to serve as the 15th chair of the Federal Reserve. She left the Fed in 2018 to work with the research group Brookings Institution.
In 2020, President Joe Biden endorsed Janet Yellen to be the US Secretary of the Treasury. She was approved by the Senate the following year. One of her most noted deeds in the new post is calling for cryptocurrencies to be regulated. She believes crypto is “very risky” and it’s not suitable for most retirement accounts.
Net Worth and Earnings
The prescribed salary for the US Secretary of the Treasury is $221,400 as of January 2021. However, as a renowned economist, Yellen makes more with her government salary. She has earned the majority of her wealth from speaking gigs. From 2019 to 2020 alone, she made $7.26 million from speeches.
In that period, she gave over 50 speeches to companies like Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Citadel, and Citigroup. Plus, it can be assumed that she made a healthy salary as a Professor in prestigious schools. Her wealth is currently valued at $20 million.
Personal Life
Janet Yellen is married to fellow economist George Akerlof. He is also an award-winning professor of economics. The brilliant pair tied the knot in 1978 and had one child named Robert.
