The Obama Foundation paid nearly half its staff six-figure salaries in its latest tax filing, even as workers cite rolled-back benefits and push to unionize.
Fox News Digital reported that the Obama Foundation’s 2025 tax filing showed 172 employees earning more than $100,000, out of 342 reported workers, roughly half the listed payroll.
CEO Valerie Jarrett, a longtime Barack Obama adviser who has led the foundation since 2021, took home $771,000. That figure sits atop a payroll-and-benefits bill that hit $50.4 million in 2025, up from $18.5 million in 2018, as the group prepared to open the Obama Presidential Center on Chicago’s South Side.
The same filing period captured a nonprofit with more than $1 billion in net assets, about $159 million in revenue, and nearly $151 million in contributions and grants. Endowment funds stood at roughly $14.2 million at the end of 2025. Rank-and-file staff, meanwhile, have formed Obama Workers United with AFSCME Council 31 and say leadership support has been thin.
Jarrett’s compensation rose from about $581,000 in 2021 to $740,000 from 2022 through 2024, then to $771,000 in the 2025 figures. The foundation says the board uses comparability data and a compensation consultant each year to review pay for the CEO, officers, and key employees.
Other top earners from the Obama orbit also cleared large sums. Robbin Cohen, who previously led Pritzker Realty Group, received about $666,000. Christina Tchen, former chief of staff to Michelle Obama, took roughly $431,000. Michael Strautmanis, a former Obama campaign and White House aide, collected about $404,000. Ammar Rizki, once Cook County’s chief financial officer, received about $400,000. Laura Lucas Magnuson, a former White House communications official, received about $396,000.
At least four of the ten highest-paid executives had prior ties to the Obama White House or campaign. The Presidential Center itself carries a $1 billion price tag on a 19.3-acre campus in Jackson Park, nearly triple the original estimate, with public funds backing surrounding infrastructure even as the foundation says construction was privately funded and operating costs are covered by revenues and donations.
Compared with peer institutions, the Obama Foundation’s share of six-figure earners stands out. Tax filings for 2024 showed the George W. Bush Presidential Center at 37%, the Carter Center at 29%, the Clinton Foundation at 23%, the Reagan Foundation at 13%, and the George & Barbara Bush Foundation at 10%.
CEO pay at those groups also trailed Jarrett’s $771,000 in several cases. The Reagan Foundation’s top executive earned about $735,000. The George W. Bush Presidential Center reported $661,000. The Carter Center listed $531,000 for a fiscal year ending in 2025. The George & Barbara Bush Foundation reported $426,600. The Clinton Foundation’s 2024 figure was $425,000.
The foundation points to higher private-sector and big-foundation benchmarks. Recent filings cited by its side put the Getty Trust president and CEO near $2 million, the Rockefeller Foundation president near $1.7 million, and the Mellon Foundation president near $1.5 million. Foundation vice president of communications Emily Bittner framed the group’s approach in market terms.
"The Foundation pays our employees rates that are competitive with the market."
Bittner also said the workforce now exceeds 500 worldwide, with roughly 300 based at the Center, a larger headcount than the 342 listed in the 2025 filing, which covered a year ending nearly six months before the June 18, 2026, dedication.
"The Board of Directors uses comparability data and a compensation consultant to review and approve the compensation of the CEO, officers and key employees on an annual basis."
Brian Mittendorf, an accounting professor at Ohio State University who studies nonprofit finances, told Fox the concentration of six-figure salaries is not the norm for a typical charity. He stopped short of calling it shocking for this kind of institution.
"That's clearly higher percentage than your average nonprofit."
Mittendorf tied the pattern to the foundation’s expertise-heavy model, closer to a think tank than a local food bank, and said many staff would have outside offers that support those rates. On Jarrett’s pay, he said the number is common for an organization of this size, even if critics argue nonprofit executives should accept more modest compensation than private-sector peers.
"Like I said, it is atypical for a standard nonprofit, but probably not that unusual for a nonprofit of its type."
Staff in visitor services, cleaning, museum operations, technology, education, and global programs have organized under Obama Workers United with AFSCME Council 31. In a public letter, the group described heavier loads and thinner support from the top.
"Amidst increasing workloads we have seen our benefits rolled back and support from leadership to be minimal."
The foundation answered with a statement that endorsed organizing rights and pledged a collaborative posture. It said it holds “immense gratitude” for staff contributions and “deep respect for unions,” and that it is “deeply committed to the fundamental right of workers to organize and make their voices heard.” Workers, for their part, urged leaders not to pour money into anti-union lawyers, messaging, or meetings.
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Bob Grogan offered a sharper political read. He cast the project as a left-wing political shop wrapped in nonprofit clothing, built partly on public parkland and public infrastructure dollars, while enriching Obama’s inner circle.
"The Obama Center is another far-left political operation that acts as a non-profit while using taxpayer dollars to make Barack Obama's inner circle rich."
The 2025 numbers show a foundation that can raise and spend at scale: $50.4 million in payroll and benefits, nine-figure annual revenue, and net assets above $1 billion. The endowment figure of about $14.2 million looks small beside that balance sheet and beside the $1 billion campus now open in Jackson Park.
Jarrett spoke at the June 18, 2026, dedication. Days later, signs appeared outside the center as the union drive continued. The foundation insists pay tracks the market and that the board’s consultant-driven process keeps executive compensation in line. Workers say the benefits they lost and the workloads they carry tell a different story about whose interests come first.
Half the reported staff cleared six figures while the people who clean the floors, run visitor services, and staff the museum asked for a union. That gap is not a rounding error. It is the business model on display.
When a presidential nonprofit pays its brass like a prestige consultancy and its ground staff feels squeezed enough to organize, donors and taxpayers alike should ask who the mission is really built to serve.
