Political news anchor Laura Jarrett was born to a millionaire famous businesswoman and former government official. Let’s meet her parents and family.
Laura Jarrett was formerly working as an attorney, however, she felt she was in the wrong career and made a switch to pursue her dream of becoming a TV-news legal analyst.
With no TV experience, Laura says she began “knocking on doors of local news stations.” She was willing to start at the bottom. CNN was the first network to bite.
She has since been famous for her work as a political reporter for CNN.
After six years with CNN, Laura joined NBC News as a senior legal correspondent in January 2023. Seven months later, Laura was announced as co-host of Saturday TODAY, replacing Kristen Welker who was named moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press.
Laura began her new role on Sept. 9., alongside Peter Alexander.
Jarrett’s family has played a major role in her success with her mother who was already famous and had a stellar career. Let’s meet her parents, and more about her family background.
Who are Laura Jarrett’s parents?
Co-anchor of Saturday TODAY and a respected senior legal correspondent for NBC News, Laura Jarrett was born on October 29, 1983, in the United States.
Her parents are Valerie June Jarrett and William Jarrett.
Laura’s mother Valerie is an American businesswoman and former government official serving as the chief executive officer of the Obama Foundation since 2021.
Her father William, was an American doctor of obstetrics and gynaecology.
Does Laura Jarrett have any siblings? No, the famous reporter is an only child to her parents and had no sister or brother.
What is Laura Jarrett’s ethnicity?
Laura is an American nationality and citizenship by birth. She was born in Washington DC, USA.
The news anchor is of African American descent.
Her mother, Valerie Jarrett, is multiracial having Persian, French, and Jewish roots as both her parents have European and African-American descent.
Who is Valerie Jarrett?
Valerie Jarrett is a veteran businesswoman and former government official.
She was born on November 14, 1956, Shiraz, Iran to parents James E. Bowman and Barbara T. Bowman.
Valerie had her edducation at University of Michigan Law School (1981), Stanford University (1978), and Northfield Mount Hermon (1974).
In 2016 when Laura had quit being an attorney to pursue her dream job as a news anchor and before hit her stride at CNN, right after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, her mother was already famous and well-known.
She attributes her switch from a private to a public career to the birth of their daughter, and her own desire to do something that would make their daughter proud.
Valerie previously served as the co-chair of the Obama-Biden Transition Project after former President Obama won the 2008 election.
Subsequently, she served as the senior advisor to former President Obama while he was in office.
“My mom worked in the Obama White House and I was being asked to cover the Trump justice department,” Laura shares. “I had to work really hard to earn those people’s trust.”
She also served as the assistant to the president for public engagement and intergovernmental affairs from 2009 and 2017.
Valerie also served as the director of corporate and non-profit boards such as being the Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Stock Exchange and Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
As of the time of writing, she is the CEO of the Obama Foundation. She has held this post since October 2021.
What is Valerie Jarett’s net worth?
According to reports, Laura Jarrett’s mother, Valerie has an estimated current net worth between $2 million and $5 million and makes a sizable salary.
She accured her fortune for being an American lawyer, entrepreneur, and politician who was a senior adviser (2009–17) to U.S. President Barack Obama.
Who was William Robert Jarrett?
William Jarrett was an American obstetrics and gynecology doctor at Jackson Park Hospital.
He was born on October 4, 1953, in Chicago, USA, and the son of Chicago Sun-Times reporter Vernon Jarrett.
He was much famous as the spouse of presidential adviser Valerie Jarett and the father of journalist Laura Jarrett.
Valerie previously married William in 1983. The two spent four years together before separating in 1987 and finalised their divorce in 1988.
In an interview with Vogue profile, she further explained, “We grew up together. We were friends since childhood. In a sense, he was the boy next door. I married without really appreciating how hard divorce would be.”
They had a child together – Laura Jarrett, who later became a lawyer and a CNN reporter.
William Jarrett passed away on November 19, 1993. He was 40 when he died from a heart attack.