Trump Appoints Jerome Powell as Fed Chairman (2/5)

When Trump won the presidency in the 2016 election, he opted to replace Janet Yellen with the mild-mannered Powell. Was it because of the vast wealth he built at the Carlyle Group? When Powell was elected into office, he became the richest Fed Chairman since 1934.

When Powell first showed up for the job, they didn’t know what to do with him. According to Grumet, he was given a  “junky little office in the back overlooking the alley.” But Powell never complained. Instead, he listened carefully to what was going on and built up binders of information.

“In the three years we worked together, there was only one thing he ever asked for: Larger binders.” said Grumet.

“When he showed up at the Fed, he basically did not know much about macroeconomics or monetary policy,” says Seth Carpenter, chief U.S. economist at UBS. “He made a conscious decision to spend a lot of time with staff and colleagues to learn as deeply and completely as possible.”

Although Trump appointed Powell to the position of Fed Chairman, the president and Jerome Powell have had a tumultuous history.