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Bezos' Modest Salary Contrasts with CEO Pay, Fed Pauses, Trump Flips on 401(k)s

Federal Reserve Pauses Interest Rate Cuts Amid Economic Assessment

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, taking a pause from rate cuts to assess the current state of the economy, according to NPR News. This decision came despite President Trump's public pressure for the central bank to lower rates more aggressively. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues made the decision during their meeting this week.

Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that President Trump's use of the National Guard for domestic deployments could cost $1.1 billion this year if the deployments remain in place, NPR News reported. During his second term, Trump deployed troops to six Democratic-led cities to suppress protests, tackle crime, or protect federal buildings and personnel. Half of those mobilizations, specifically in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon, ended this month.

In other economic news, Fortune reported on executive compensation among Fortune 500 companies. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon emerged as an early leader in pay for 2025, receiving a double-digit percentage raise that put him ahead of JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon and Disney's Bob Iger. While not all Fortune 500 companies have released their executive compensation for 2025, banking CEOs like Solomon and Dimon appeared to be among the early winners. However, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol experienced a significant pay drop in 2025 after receiving $96 million in 2024 as front-loaded compensation for four months of work. The six largest U.S. banks, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, brought in a combined profit of $157 billion, an 8% increase that marked the industry's best year since the pandemic, according to Fortune.

Also, Fortune reported that during a 2024 interview at the New York Times DealBook Summit, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos stated that he capped his Amazon salary at $80,000. "I already owned a significant amount of the company, and I just didn’t feel good about taking more," Bezos said. "I just felt, How could I possibly need more incentive? I just would have felt icky about it."

Finally, President Trump seemingly reversed course on a plan to allow Americans to tap into their 401(k) savings for home down payments, Fortune reported. Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, had previously stated that the administration planned to allow people to take money out of their 401(k)s for this purpose. However, when asked about the proposal at Davos, Trump told reporters he wasn't "a huge fan" of the idea, adding, "I’m so happy with the way 401(k)s are doing." Currently, 401(k) participants must pay a penalty if they withdraw funds before retirement age.

AI-Assisted Journalism

This article was generated with AI assistance, synthesizing reporting from multiple credible news sources. Our editorial team reviews AI-generated content for accuracy.

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