This Financier Became a Fed Power Player—From the Inside and Outside

John Williams has fans at the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, part of the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington. When news leaked in March that he was the front-runner to lead the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the group’s director, David Wessel, immediately lauded the potential move in an emailed reply to a reporter. When the formal announcement was made a week later, former Fed Chair Janet Yellen, an affiliate of the center, issued a glowing press release. Brookings posted an article detailing his contributions to the think tank.

Williams’s promotion from San Francisco district president was important for the Fed, because the New York chief is among the most powerful central bankers in the world. It was a big moment for the Hutchins Center, because Williams is Yellen’s protege and was a Fed colleague of another affiliate, former Chair Ben Bernanke. And it was consequential for Glenn Hutchins, the private-equity financier who launched the center with a $10 million donation five years ago. He co-led the New York Fed search committee that chose Williams.