Income inequality at Obama Foundation, as brass thrives and rank and file seeks union
FIRST ON FOX: The beleaguered Obama Foundation has an income inequality problem: While half of its employees earn six-figure salaries, led by CEO Valerie Jarrett at $771,000, dozens at the other end of the scale are fighting for union representation.The workplace disparity comes to light just as Fox News Digital reported that the long-delayed Obama Presidential Center's price tag hit $1 billion — nearly triple the original estimate for the Chicago facility.The Obama Foundation, former President Barack Obama's private nonprofit, reported 172 employees receiving more than $100,000 in salary in its 2025 tax filing — roughly half its 342 reported employees.Jarrett, one of former President Barack Obama's closest advisors and a former senior White House official, has led the Obama Foundation since 2021, overseeing the final years of construction of the Presidential Center on Chicago's South Side.Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett (left) and the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago during its opening ceremony on June 18, 2026.
(Getty Images; Pedro Ugarte/AFP via Getty Images)OBAMA'S BILLION-DOLLAR BABY: CHICAGO CENTER'S PRICE TAG HITS MONUMENTAL MILESTONE, TRIPLING ORIGINAL ESTIMATEHer total pay rose by around $15,500 from 2024 and she is one of at least four of the nonprofit's 10 highest-paid executives with previous ties to the Obama White House or campaign."The Foundation pays our employees rates that are competitive with the market," Emily Bittner, the Obama Foundation's vice president of communications, told Fox News Digital."We have more than 500 employees worldwide, roughly 300 of whom are based at the Center."The current workforce of more than 500 is substantially larger than the 342 employees reported in the Obama Foundation's 2025 tax filing, which covers the year ending nearly six months before the Presidential Center opened in June.
The nonprofit did not provide an updated payroll breakdown.The Obama Foundation saw its annual payroll and benefits bill c...