Business

Bernanke’s net worth climbed 31% in 2009

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s personal assets rose by as much as 31 percent last year as US stocks rebounded.

The central bank chief and his family’s financial assets valued at $1.15 million to $2.48 million last year, a higher range than the $852,000 to $1.9 million in 2008, according to an annual financial disclosure.

Bernanke’s two largest assets are retirement accounts, listed as TIAA Traditional and CREF Stock Large Cap Blend. Both were valued in a range of $500,001 and $1 million. Last year, his CREF fund holding was listed in a range of $250,001 and $500,000.

Bernanke, 56, who succeeded Alan Greenspan as chairman in 2006 and began a second four-year term in February, got a $196,700 salary last year, an amount set by Congress.

A former Princeton professor, Bernanke earned between $200,002 and $2 million in royalties from textbooks last year, more than his compensation as central bank chief.