Peter Richard Orszag has spent his career moving between two worlds that rarely overlap: federal budget policy and Wall Street. He ran the U.S. government’s two biggest budget offices before he turned 42, then rebuilt his career in finance, eventually becoming CEO and Chairman of Lazard, one of the world’s top investment banks. Along the way, his name has also become a strange magnet for one of the internet’s more pointless recurring questions: is he bald?
This is the full picture, from his childhood in Massachusetts to his current pay package at Lazard, including that hair question people keep typing into Google.
Peter Orszag Quick Facts
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Peter Richard Orszag |
| Date of Birth | December 16, 1968 |
| Age | 57 |
| Birthplace | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Education | Princeton University (BA); London School of Economics (MS, PhD) |
| Current Role | CEO and Chairman, Lazard |
| Past Roles | Director, Congressional Budget Office (2007–2008); Director, Office of Management and Budget (2009–2010) |
| Spouse | Bianna Golodryga (CNN journalist), married 2010 |
| Children | 5 |
| 2025 Total Compensation | $13.7 million (Lazard proxy statement) |
Who Is Peter Orszag?
Peter Orszag is an American economist and financial executive best known for two very different careers. In government, he ran the Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan agency appointed by Congress rather than the president, during the second term of President George W. Bush, and later ran the Office of Management and Budget under President Barack Obama, making him one of only two people ever to hold both jobs, alongside Alice Rivlin. In finance, he built a second career at Citigroup and then Lazard, rising to become the firm’s CEO and Chairman.
That combination is rare. Most economists who move into finance do so as advisors or analysts. Orszag now runs a publicly traded investment bank with thousands of employees and billions of dollars in assets under management.
Peter Orszag’s Early Life and Education
Orszag was born on December 16, 1968, in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in nearby Lexington. His father, Steven Orszag, was a mathematics professor, and his mother ran a research and development company. The family has Hungarian Jewish roots.
He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1987, then earned his undergraduate degree in economics from Princeton University in 1991, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to the London School of Economics as a Marshall Scholar, earning both a master’s degree and a PhD in economics, with a dissertation on regime shifts under uncertainty in hyperinflation and privatization.
Peter Orszag’s Career in Government
Orszag’s government career began during the Clinton administration, where he worked as a senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisers and later as special assistant to the president for economic policy. He later spent time at the Brookings Institution, researching healthcare costs and long-term federal budget sustainability.
Director of the Congressional Budget Office
In 2007, Orszag was appointed director of the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan agency that estimates the cost of legislation for Congress. The post is filled by congressional leadership rather than the president, and he held it until November 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, building a reputation as a sharp, detail-oriented analyst of federal spending and healthcare costs.
Director of the Office of Management and Budget
President-elect Obama picked Orszag to lead the Office of Management and Budget in November 2008, and he was sworn in as the 37th OMB Director on January 20, 2009. At 40, he was the youngest member of Obama’s original cabinet. He served until July 20, 2010, a period that covered the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the stimulus package, and the budget modeling behind the Affordable Care Act.
His time at OMB also brought a personal story into the news. In early 2010, it became public that Orszag had a daughter, born in November 2009, with Claire Milonas, a shipping heiress he had dated before his relationship ended in spring 2009. The story broke shortly after his engagement to journalist Bianna Golodryga was announced, and Orszag and Milonas released a joint statement confirming the situation while saying there was no bitterness between them.
Peter Orszag’s Move Into Finance
After leaving OMB in July 2010, Orszag was named a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, then joined Citigroup that December as Vice Chairman of Corporate and Investment Banking, officially starting in January 2011, and later chaired its Financial Strategy and Solutions Group. He also wrote as a columnist for The New York Times and Bloomberg Opinion during this period, keeping a public voice in economic policy even as his career shifted toward Wall Street.
In May 2016, Orszag joined Lazard as Vice Chairman of Investment Banking. He moved up quickly, becoming Global Co-Head of Healthcare in 2018, then Head of North American M&A, and eventually CEO of Lazard’s Financial Advisory business in 2019, the firm’s largest division. On October 1, 2023, Lazard’s board named him CEO of the entire company, and in January 2025, he added the title of Chairman.
Peter Orszag Net Worth and Income
Unlike film or music stars, Orszag does not have a widely tracked celebrity net worth figure backed by a major database. What is publicly available instead is his compensation as a public company CEO, which Lazard discloses each year in SEC proxy filings.
His total compensation has grown steadily since taking on more senior roles at Lazard, with a sharp jump in 2023 tied to his promotion to CEO.
| Fiscal Year | Total Compensation |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $8 million |
| 2021 | $9 million |
| 2022 | $10 million |
| 2023 | $31 million (includes a one-time CEO promotion grant) |
| 2024 | $11.4 million |
| 2025 | $13.7 million |
For fiscal year 2025, his pay broke down to a $900,000 base salary, a $3.9 million cash bonus, roughly $8.7 million in stock awards, and about $257,000 in other compensation. Separately, SEC filings show Orszag directly owns roughly 0.2% of Lazard’s outstanding shares, a stake worth around $9 million at recent share prices.
Adding his stock holdings to several years of high compensation suggests a net worth somewhere in the tens of millions of dollars, though no audited or independently verified total figure has ever been published. Any specific number you see online for his “net worth” is an estimate built from this same public compensation and ownership data, not a confirmed personal balance sheet.
Is Peter Orszag Bald? Where That Question Comes From
If you search his name, “Peter Orszag bald” and “Peter Orszag hair” show up as suggested searches. It is a strange thing to be one of the more common questions about a career economist, so it is worth addressing directly.
There is no solid basis for it. Public photos and video of Orszag, from his years at the CBO and OMB through his current appearances as Lazard’s CEO, consistently show a full head of hair, styled the same way across more than 15 years of coverage. He has never made a public comment about his hair, and there is no verified source, interview, or news report where the topic was ever seriously discussed by Orszag himself or anyone close to him.
What actually seems to be happening is a wave of SEO-driven articles published in 2026, many with nearly identical wording, built entirely around a question people type into search engines rather than around any real event or statement. Several of these articles even acknowledge, buried in their own text, that there is no evidence behind the premise. In short: the “bald” search interest appears to be a self-generated internet curiosity, not a documented fact about Orszag.
Peter Orszag’s Personal Life
Orszag was first married to Cameron Hamill in 1997; they divorced in 2006 and have two children together. In 2010, he married Bianna Golodryga, a journalist who has worked at CBS, CNBC, ABC, and Yahoo News and currently co-anchors “One World” on CNN International. The couple has two children together, and Orszag has five children in total.
Beyond his role at Lazard, Orszag serves on the boards of the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the Institute for Advanced Study, and as a trustee of Mount Sinai Hospital. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Aspen Economic Strategy Group.
Also Read: Mark Wahlberg Net Worth 2026
Peter Orszag FAQ
What is Peter Orszag’s net worth?
There is no single verified net worth figure for Orszag. Public data shows total compensation of $13.7 million in 2025 and a Lazard stock stake worth roughly $9 million, which together point to a net worth in the tens of millions, though no audited total exists.
What is Peter Orszag’s current job?
He is CEO and Chairman of Lazard, a global investment bank and asset management firm, a role he has held since October 2023, with the Chairman title added in January 2025.
What government positions did Peter Orszag hold?
He was Director of the Congressional Budget Office from 2007 to 2008 and Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Obama from 2009 to 2010.
Is Peter Orszag bald?
No. Public photos and videos across his entire career show a consistent full head of hair. The “bald” search trend appears to come from a cluster of recent SEO content with no real evidence behind it.
Who is Peter Orszag married to?
He is married to Bianna Golodryga, a journalist and CNN International anchor. They married in 2010.
How many children does Peter Orszag have?
Five: two from his first marriage, one from a prior relationship with Claire Milonas, and two with Bianna Golodryga.
Where did Peter Orszag go to school?
He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy, earned his undergraduate degree in economics from Princeton University, and completed a master’s degree and PhD in economics at the London School of Economics as a Marshall Scholar.
