Federal tax filings show just how much money former Obama administration officials, including Valerie Jarrett, are making.
Serving as the CEO for the Obama Foundation, which will operate the 19.3-acre, $850 million Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Jarrett reportedly received $740,000 in 2024, more than any other presidential foundation CEO. For example, the head of the Bush Presidential Center received around $661,000 in 2024, while the Carter and Reagan Foundations pay out even less, with about $500,000 salaries being more common. The Clinton Foundation CEO appears to be paid the least, with recent filings declaring compensation below $500,000.
Other former Obama White House officials who serve as foundation executives have also earned six-figure salaries, according to Fox News.
“Salaries and benefits soared from $18.5 million in 2018 to $43.7 million in 2024, as staffing expanded to 337 employees and annual revenue reached nearly $210 million,” the outlet reported.
Meanwhite Jarrett “is among six of the foundation’s 10 highest-paid executives who previously held senior roles in the Obama administration or campaign, according to a review of the foundation’s tax filings from 2018 to 2024.”
Illinois GOP Chairman Kathy Salvi spoke to Fox News about the eye-popping wages being handed out to Obama’s allies.
“Illinois Democrats are truly living their best lives — making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to help design the ugliest building in Chicago. Their jaw-dropping salaries prove that Illinois’ culture of corruption is alive and well as Barack Obama’s top allies rake in the cash,” she said.
Despite the amount of money she’s receiving, tax documents indicate her earnings “accounted for less than 1% of the Obama Foundation’s total expenses in 2024.”
“Other top earners at the Obama Foundation included former administration insiders like David Simas, Obama’s former White House political director, who earned up to $626,000 annually while leading the Obama Foundation from 2017 through 2020,” Fox’s report explained. “Adewale Adeyemo, a senior Obama administration official and later Biden’s deputy Treasury secretary, earned roughly $540,000 during his tenure as the foundation’s first president.”
Former White House public engagement official Anne Filipic and former chief of staff to Michelle Obama, Christina Tchen, netted around $400,000 each while serving in senior foundation roles. Former White House aide Michael Strautmanis has snatched up around $300,000 a year.
CEO of independent charity watchdog group CharityWatch, Laurie Styron, had a word of caution for the Obama Foundation.
“Any time you are dealing with a nonprofit that is politically connected in some way, there is always a heightened risk of nepotism creeping in,” she said. “If multiple highly paid executives have ties to the former president’s administration, the public deserves significant transparency about how those hiring and compensation decisions were made.”
This comes as the Obama Presidential Center is entering the final stages of construction and prepares to open to the public.
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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