Kevin Warsh (55), former Federal Reserve governor nominated by U.S. President Donald Trump on the 30th (local time) as the next chair of the Federal Reserve (Fed), has drawn attention for currently serving as a director of Coupang, which has recently come under scrutiny over a data-leak controversy.
According to Coupang Inc., the parent company of Coupang, Warsh has been a member of Coupang’s board of directors since October 2019 and continues to serve in that role.
Warsh previously resigned from the Federal Reserve Board in 2011 after opposing the second round of quantitative easing. He later served as a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. In addition to Coupang, Warsh has also served as a board member of the global logistics company UPS.
Warsh is expected to step down from his private-sector board positions before assuming the Fed chairmanship. As compensation for his role as a Coupang director, he holds a substantial amount of Coupang stock.
According to disclosures filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Warsh reported holding 470,000 shares of Coupang as of June last year. Based on the closing price on the 29th, the shares are worth approximately $9.4 million (about ₩13 billion). However, under Federal Reserve regulations, Fed governors and the chair are prohibited from holding individual company stocks, so Warsh is expected to divest these holdings prior to his appointment.
Warsh is also the son-in-law of Ronald Lauder, heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetics empire. Lauder has been a close friend of President Trump for roughly 60 years and is known as a major political donor. According to Forbes estimates, Warsh’s wife, Jane Lauder (53), has a net worth of approximately $2.7 billion (about ₩3.9 trillion) as of the 30th.
Posted by Freewhale98
2 Comments
It’s so bizarre that Trump has went all in on a Korean company most Americans have never heard of.
1. Summary
New Fed Chair Nominee Warsh is on Coupang board of directors. This revealed how deeply embedded Coupang is among MAGA circle. After the appointment Warsh as Fed Chair, Korean government is freaking out and stepping back on Coupang crackdown over their privacy breach incidents with the opposition parties denouncing the government for poking at “Trump’s darling”.
2. How is this related to the sub
(1) State capture & the rise of extractive institutions: The appointment of Warsh as Fed Chair indicates the US has reached the final stage of transition to extractive institutions, considering his deep ties to Lauder and Coupang.
3. My opinion
When J.D. Vance stepped up to defend Coupang, I was a bit confused. Can the US vice president be bought with few million dollars? Then, when I saw Warsh appointment, I realized the truth. Coupang was protected by Trump administration because they were one of closest cronies of Trump administration. It’s just disgusting. The criminal Coupang who caused massive privacy breach and handed over 30 million user data to China an killed several workers in industrial accidents are getting away without any consequences because of Trump connection.,