Obama Foundation pays roughly half its staff six-figure salaries

The Obama Foundation paid 172 of its 342 employees more than 100,000 dollars last year, according to its 2025 tax filing — roughly half the payroll earning six figures. Chief executive Valerie Jarrett, who has led the foundation since 2021, was paid 771,000 dollars. The figures were first reported by Fox News Digital.

The half-million range is well populated with Obama alumni. Christina Tchen, former chief of staff to Michelle Obama, received about 431,000 dollars; Michael Strautmanis, a former campaign and White House aide, about 404,000; Laura Lucas Magnuson, a former White House communications official, about 396,000; and Robbin Cohen, a former real estate executive for the Pritzker family, about 666,000. Ammar Rizki, a former Cook County chief financial officer, received about 400,000 dollars.

Among the presidential nonprofits of Jimmy Carter through George W. Bush, the share of employees above 100,000 dollars ran at roughly 25 percent or below, with the Bush foundation the exception at 37 percent. Jarrett's pay is comparable to the Reagan Foundation chief executive's 735,000 dollars — a role that includes running a presidential library — and well above the half-million range typical of the rest. Brian Mittendorf, an Ohio State University accounting professor who studies nonprofit finances, said the foundation's share of six-figure earners was 'clearly higher than your average nonprofit,' while noting that a think tank looks different from a local food bank. The foundation's vice president of communications, Emily Bittner, said: 'The Foundation pays our employees rates that are competitive with the market.' The tax filing counts 342 employees; Bittner puts the worldwide staff at more than 500.

The rank and file are organizing. Foundation workers are pushing to unionize over what they describe as rolled-back benefits, mounting workloads and 'deteriorating conditions' that have driven experienced colleagues to leave. The payroll sits atop a building program of its own: the Obama Presidential Center on Chicago's South Side has now hit one billion dollars, nearly triple its original estimate.

'Amidst increasing workloads we have seen our benefits rolled back and support from leadership to be minimal,' the workers wrote in their public letter.