Janet Yellen Earned At Least $ 7 Million In Speaking Fees, Record Says | Business

New US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has received at least $ 7million (£ 5.1million) for speaking engagements at government-regulated banks, consultants and hedge funds over the past two years , according to recently leaked documents.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman unveiled a list of more than 50 paid conferences for financial firms, including $ 67,500 from Goldman Sachs, $ 54,000 from an event at Barclays and $ 292,500 from a single speech for the fund speculative Citadel.

The documents were submitted to the US Bureau of Government Ethics as part of Yellen’s efforts to ensure the lead role for the US Treasury. Although she has already been chosen for the post by President-elect Joe Biden, she has yet to obtain formal approval from the United States Senate.

The deposits showed that Yellen also earned $ 112,500 from a single engagement with UBS, $ 225,000 from a speech for PwC and $ 270,000 from an event with London-based bank Standard Chartered.

It is common for senior government officials such as Yellen to take on paid speaker roles after retirement. Ben Bernanke, who was chairman of the US Federal Reserve before Yellen, is said to have earned around $ 250,000 for a single speech after leaving the central bank, where he was making $ 199,700 a year.

However, Yellen – who made just over $ 200,000 a year when she ran the US Fed between 2014 and 2018 – said she would get official clearance before taking part in decisions involving any company that paid her fees. once she was officially appointed to the Treasury. .

Yellen also pledged to leave Australian investment firm Magellan Financial Group, from which she earned $ 125,000 as a consultant and around $ 225,000 in presentation fees. She has pledged to relinquish assets in 13 companies, including telecoms giant AT&T, pharmaceutical company Pfizer and chemical company Dupont, to avoid any conflict of interest.

Similar documents from current Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs executive and Hollywood film financier, before his appointment in 2017, did not reveal any significant speaking fees.

However, Mnuchin has pledged to cede at least $ 94 million in investments in 43 companies once he was appointed to Donald Trump’s cabinet. He was later criticized for failing to properly disclose that he owned nearly $ 100 million in real estate and served as a director with an offshore business vehicle based in the Cayman Islands, a tax haven. .