Value of Bernanke assets held steady in 2011

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke may be wealthy according to the standards of most Americans, but the assets he held last year were valued well below those of some of his colleagues on the U.S. central bank's board.

Bernanke's assets were listed as being worth between $1.07 million and $2.28 million, unchanged from the year before, according to financial statements for 2011 released yesterday.

By comparison, the Fed's vice chair, Janet Yellen, held assets worth between $4.43 million and $12.44 million, down slightly from 2010.

The legally required annual disclosures by Fed board members incorporate the assets of members' spouses and their dependent children, but give only broad ranges for various assets, not precise dollar amounts.

Elizabeth Duke, a former banker, had assets worth between $4.07 million and $9.60 million. Assets held by Sarah Bloom Raskin were valued between $1.37 million and $3.73 million, and Daniel Tarullo had assets valued between $1.34 million and $3.55 million.

Financial disclosure forms for the Federal Reserve's Board of Governor's two most recent additions, former investment banker Jerome Powell and Harvard economist Jeremy Stein, were released as part of their Senate confirmation process. -- Reuters