As Director of the National Economic Council, charismatic and knowledgeable American television commentator on economic matters Lawrence Kudlow works for the Trump government. After a very long career in the financial industry, Kudlow rose to fame as a CNBC television commentator and a well-liked nationally syndicated columnist, with his work showing in numerous American newspapers and websites. As a contributing editor to National Review magazine and the economics director of National Review Online, Kudlow also writes for both publications. The general public is more familiar with him as the host of “The Kudlow Report,” a CNBC program that ended in 2014, and as a result of his subsequent frequent appearances in the financial market update program “Squawk Box,” also on CNBC. He is a very well-known figure in the financial and economic sectors. Additionally, Kudlow hosts “The Larry Kudlow Show,” a weekly AM talk program on WABC. Author of four books on finance and economics, Kudlow is a fervent supporter of supply-side economics, free trade, and the idea that lowering taxes on businesses and the wealthy will help the economy grow. During Ronald Reagan’s first tenure, he worked as the associate director for economics and planning at the Executive Office of the President’s Office of Management and Budget. He openly expressed his admiration for President Trump’s economic policies while providing informal advice to the president during the 2016 campaign. Kudlow has received countless accolades and awards.
Early Years & Youth
Lawrence In a wealthy Jewish household, Alan Kudlow was born on August 20, 1947, in New Jersey to Irving Howard Kudlow and Ruth Kudlow. Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, New Jersey, where he attended until the sixth grade, provided him with his early schooling. He completed his secondary school education at the exclusive private Dwight-Englewood School.
He enrolled at the University of Rochester in New York, where he earned a history degree before graduating in 1969. “Kuddles,” as he was affectionately known, was a standout in the sport of lawn tennis while also being a committed supporter of the left-leaning pacifist organization Students for a Democratic Society during his time in Rochester.
In 1970, Larry Kudlow worked in Joseph Duffey’s ‘New Politics’ senatorial campaign in Connecticut alongside a number of other emerging young Democrats, including Bill Clinton. With his outstanding district supervisor abilities, Kudlow dazzled.
Kudlow entered Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1971 to study politics and economics but left before earning his master’s degree.
Lawrence Kudlow’s Career
As a staff economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Kudlow quickly demonstrated his mettle, left the organization, and eventually doubled his salary as the chief economist at “Paine Webber.” It didn’t seem to matter that he was only 28 and had no economics degree.
He was appointed chief economist of Bear Stearns, a prestigious investment firm, in 1979, by which time he had solidified his support for free trade. In the first Reagan administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), he was appointed top economist in late 1981. But he departed in 1983 after having heated arguments with his boss, OMB director David Stockman. He participated in the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation’s advisory group while working for OMB.
Kudlow ran his own consulting business in Washington, DC, for a while after that, but in 1987 he returned to Bear Stearns as its senior managing director and top economist. However, he lost his job at the beginning of 1994 after skipping an address at an important investor meeting because of his cocaine addiction.
As an economic advisor and member of the board of directors for “Empower America,” which subsequently merged with “Citizens for a Sound Economy” to form “FreedomWorks,” A. B. Laffer & Associates also employed Kudlow. In addition, he serves as consulting chief economist and founding member of American Skandia Life Assurance, a division of Prudential Financial, a leading provider of insurance.
HarperCollins released Kudlow’s novel, “American Abundance: The New Economic and Moral Prosperity,” on December 1st, 1997. Kudlow began serving as the Economics Director at National Review Online in May 2001.
Kudlow and Jim Cramer started co-hosting a TV show on CNBC in 2002, and their success paved the way for a number of other successful CNBC programs, including “Kudlow & Cramer,” “Kudlow & Company,” and “The Kudlow Report,” which concluded its effective run in 2014.
He co-hosted ‘The Call’ on the same station in late 2008. Kudlow’s assertive demeanor and upbeat view on the economy were a constant throughout all of the shows. In April 2005, he was appointed to a six-person state tax committee by New York Governor George Pataki.
He is a frequent guest on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” co-hosts “The John Batchelor Show” in addition to “The Larry Kudlow Show,” contributes to CNBC.com, and writes at “Kudlow’s Money Politics.” He is a tireless commentator.
As a syndicated journalist, his articles can be found in well-known national publications like the Washington Times, the Cato Institute’s City Journal, and the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research’s City Journal, among others.
Rumors that Kudlow would challenge Christopher Dodd in the 2010 election for the Connecticut Senate first emerged in February 2009, but he quickly denied them. Although Kudlow himself showed interest in the Senate seat held by Charles Schumer on January 29, 2010, he never brought up the topic again.
Once more, Kudlow’s name was floated as a possible opponent for Senator Richard Blumenthal in Connecticut, but he once more declined. Gary Cohn was replaced as the Head of the National Economic Council by Kudlow on April 2, 2018, following President Trump’s appointment.
Personal Influence & Life
Nancy Ellen Gerstein, an editor in the fiction section of the journal “New Yorker,” and Lawrence Kudlow were married for the first time in 1974; however, they divorced just over a year later. In 1981, he wed Susan (Cullman) Sicher, a member of the illustrious Cullman and Bloomingdale dynasties. Kudlow was then the Office of Management and Budget’s assistant director for economic strategy. In 1986, he wed Judith “Judy” Pond, an artist, who is still his wife today.
Father C. John McCloskey III had an impact on Kudlow, who was born a Hebrew and had his bar mitzvah at the age of 13. In 1990, Kudlow converted to Roman Catholicism. After his humiliating departure from “Bear Sterns” in 1994, he enrolled in a 12-step rehab program to address his drug and alcohol addiction, a problem he hasn’t been afraid to openly acknowledge. Tennis and golf are on his list of interests.
Estimated Net Worth
An American right economist, television personality, and newspaper columnist with a $10 million fortune is Larry Kudlow. According to his financial disclosure from September 2019, Larry had stock interests and other liquid assets that were at least $2 million in value.