U.S. President Donald Trump on the 30th (local time) officially named former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh as his nominee for the next chair of the Federal Reserve (Fed). After Senate confirmation, Warsh is expected to lead the Fed after current Chair Jerome Powell's term ends in May.
Trump said on Truth Social that he was "pleased to announce" the nomination of Kevin Warsh as Fed chair. He added, "I have known Kevin for a long time and have no doubt he will be one of the great Fed chairs, perhaps the best," and "above all, he is the right person for the job and will never let you down."
Trump has recently kept up public pressure on Powell, saying he is "not cutting rates fast enough."
Warsh has traditionally been classified as a "hawk," tough on inflation. However, more recently he has publicly mentioned the need for "rate cuts," aligning his steps with Trump's stance, according to some assessments. If the former governor takes office as Fed chair, attention will focus on whether he accelerates rate cuts in line with Trump's pressure.
Warsh, 55 this year, studied economics and political science at Stanford University and earned a law degree from Harvard Law School. After working in investment banking at Morgan Stanley, he served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011 and is known to have acted as a liaison to Wall Street under Chair Ben Bernanke during the financial crisis.
Since 2019, Warsh has served on the board of the U.S. parent company Coupang Inc., the parent of Coupang. Coupang Inc. board chair Bom Kim is said to have brought him on for his macroeconomic insight. If he is appointed Fed chair, he will need to step down from the Coupang Inc. board.
Warsh also holds a significant amount of Coupang stock as compensation for his board service. According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the former governor reported holding 470,000 Coupang shares as of June last year. Based on the closing price on the 29th, that is about $9.4 million (about 1.3 billion won). Under Fed rules, the Fed chair cannot hold individual company stocks, so he is expected to dispose of his holdings before appointment.
Warsh is also the son-in-law of Ronald Lauder, an heir to the cosmetics company Estée Lauder. Ronald Lauder is known as a friend who has known Trump for about 60 years and a solid political donor.
Senate confirmation following a congressional hearing will be key. If confirmed, Warsh will take over the chairmanship when Powell's term ends.