America’s highest-paid federal employee, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says he is likely to retire by the end of President Biden’s first term in office.
Dr. Fauci has been a federal employee for more than 41 years. He was the federal employee of the year in 2020.
He is now 81 years old and has said he will probably retire by the end of President Joe Biden’s term which ends in January 2025. If he does retire at that time, he would then be 84 years old.
Fauci was appointed Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 1984. He oversees an extensive research portfolio of basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat established infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis, and malaria as well as emerging diseases such as Ebola and Zika.
“I have always said that sometime in the reasonable future, I would be stepping down,” Fauci told NBC News. “Thus sometime between now and then I very likely will step down and move on to the next phase in my professional career, whatever that may be.”
How Does One Get the Largest Federal Retirement Package in History?
Dr. Anthony Fauci is considered the nation’s top infectious disease expert and chief medical advisor to the president. As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, he is the highest-paid public servant in the country. His salary was $434,312 in 2020 and $456,028 in 2021. Dr. Fauci outearned the president, four-star generals, and all 4.3 million of his colleagues.
That is unusual as he makes more than President Biden whose salary is $400,000. His wife is also a federal employee as the Chief of Bioethics at NIH with an annual salary of $234,284.
During the Trump administration, Dr. Fauci became one of the best-known federal employees because of his frequent appearances on TV and in print as an expert on COVID. Between January 1, 2020, and June 15, 2021, he appeared in 354 television, radio, podcast, and online interviews, including lectures, panel discussions, speeches, and press conferences.
Earlier this year, his retirement pay was estimated to be more than $355,000–the largest federal retirement pension in history. As with other federal retirees, his pension and benefits would continue to increase through annual cost-of-living adjustments. Fauci has 55 years of service as a federal employee.
Total Net Worth: $10+ Million
As noted in FedSmith earlier this year, Dr. Fauci’s total net worth at that time was in excess of $10 million. Obviously, as anyone investing in the TSP or otherwise in the stock market, the value of stocks in most portfolios has dropped significantly in 2022.
According to the financial records that were released, Dr. Fauci had a contributory IRA with $638,519.70, and a brokerage trust account with $2,403,522.28. The financial records were released by Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS).
His financial accounts are with Charles Schwab. The largest was a “Schwab One Trust” which had $5,295,898.92.
His three accounts had a total of $8,337,940.90. His wife had two accounts – an IRA, with $120,277.82, and a Schwab One Trust with $1,962,819.27 for a total of $2,083,097.09.
The total amounts for both people are $10.4 million.
Surprisingly, there is not any information in the records on a Thrift Savings Plan account which often accounts for a significant amount of the total net worth for any federal employee.
The financial records were released after a public dispute with Senator Marshall in a Senate hearing. The two men verbally sparred, culminating with Fauci stating, “what a moron,” referring to the Senator who is also a medical doctor. The insult was said quietly but was made near an open microphone.
The Senator noted his staff then spent a few weeks tracking down the financial information. In a press release, Marshall stated that Dr. Fauci produced these previously unpublished documents.
Summary
Dr. Fauci has had a long and distinguished federal career. Until he became one of the best-known spokesmen for a presidential administration on COVID, he was very successful but not that well-known to the public.
When he decides to actually retire, no doubt it will be a well-deserved retirement.
