After 25 years of interviews and commentaries on everything from
Obamacare to supplyside economics, Larry Kudlow is retiring from fulltime
work at CNBC Friday — ending his awardwinning "The Kudlow Report"
and becoming a senior contributor to the cable network.
Kudlow, 66, will contribute to the "Business Day" program on CNBC. The
network announced his retirement from the daily primetime show earlier
this month.
A columnist and radio program host, Kudlow is a regular guest on "The
Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
Undergirded by "The Kudlow Creed" — "We believe that free market
capitalism is the best path to prosperity!" — the CNBC show began in
January 2009 and offered a mixture of politics and business. It has featured
interviews with a wide range of politicians, economists, Wall Street titans,
and media personalities.
The program succeeded "Kudlow & Company," which aired from 2005 until
October 2008. Before that, starting in 2002, the program was called
"Kudlow & Cramer" — with investment guru Jim Cramer as cohost. From
2001 to 2002, the program was called "America Now."
Over the years, Kudlow has hosted such guests as former President
George W. Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Secretary of
State Henry Kissinger, and current Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
He also has talked with such business leaders as media mogul Barry Diller
and energy investor T. Boone Pickens.
For instance, Thursday's program featured interviews with Republican Gov.
Scott Walker of Wisconsin — and he was joined by Cramer to discuss ways
to keep the American economy growing. Cramer now hosts "Mad Money"
on CNBC.
"Larry, I miss you," Cramer said, extending his hand. "You were the place
for civil discourse, because you are a civil man. We ended every show the
same way — and we do it now.
"You're the best," Kudlow responded. "You're the best."
He then turned to camera: "Jim Cramer, my expartner — and I miss him."
"This is not the end of Larry Kudlow in the public eye, it's just a new
beginning," Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy said. A longtime friend of
Kudlow, Ruddy added, "Larry will continue to carry the torch for
Reaganomics and the free market like no one else as he has for decades."
Ruddy noted that Kudlow played a key role as an adviser to President Ronald
Reagan in "unleashing the greatest economic boom the world has ever known."
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The program also included tributes from such guests over the years as
NBC News White House correspondent Chuck Todd, Illinois GOP Rep.
Peter Roskam, and wealthmanagement company CEO Jack Bouroudjian.
Under Reagan, Kudlow served in the Office of Management and Budget.
He also worked as chief economist at Bear Stearns on Wall Street, and
served as an economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
