Chief Medical Advisor to the president Dr Anthony Fauci, seen here at the White House in 2021, has announced that he will step down in December -- but is not retiring

KEY POINTS

  • Anthony Fauci continued to be the most highly compensated federal employee
  • He will retire in December after more than five decades of public service
  • The 81-year-old has advised seven U.S. presidents, starting with Ronald Reagan

While millions of Americans faced financial struggles during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci and his wife's net worth grew by $5 million, according to a government spending watchdog group.

The combined wealth of the 81-year-old director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and his wife, Christine Grady, the chief bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health, soared from $7.6 million in 2019 to $12.6 million by the end of 2021, according to a report from the nonprofit OpenTheBooks.

The couple's wealth boost was due to major salary increases, cash awards and royalties, according to the report.

"During the ongoing pandemic year of 2021, the Fauci's household income, perks and benefits, and unrealized investment gains totaled $2,832,876 — including federal income and benefits of $903,497, outside awards and royalties totaling $1,019,205; and $910,174 in investment gains," as per OpenTheBooks.

The report revealed that in 2021, Fauci received $1 million from the Dan David Foundation for "speaking truth to power" and "defending science." He reportedly kept $910,400 from that award, while roughly 10% went to scholarship winners.

The watchdog also claimed he collected awards of $12,500 from the Eliot Richardson Prize in Public Service on July 31, 2021, and the Abelson Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Feb. 8, 2021.

International Business Times could not verify information in the report published by OpenTheBooks.

Fauci continued to be the most highly compensated federal employee. He out-earned the president, and anyone else on the federal payroll, making a total of $1.252 million from 2018-2020.

His total compensation was $456,028 last year, up from the $434,312 he earned in 2020. In 2022, his salary skyrocketed to $480,000.

In August, Fauci announced he would retire in December after more than five decades of public service to pursue the "next chapter" of his career.

The 81-year-old has advised seven U.S. presidents, starting with Ronald Reagan.

If Fauci will retire at the end of 2022, he will be eligible for a federal pension of $375,000 – the highest in federal history. During the first three years of his retirement, he will get over $1 million.

It's unclear what made Fauci change his mind on his retirement plans.

Last December, he told ABC News' Jonathan Karl that he had no plans of retiring since he intended to finish the battle against COVID-19 until everything could get back to normal.

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"There's no way I'm going to walk away from this until we get this under control. I mean, that's the purpose of what we do. That's – that's our mission in life. In the middle of it, I'm not going to walk away," Fauci said.

"You can't do that. You've got to finish it — and we're going to finish this and get back to normal," he added.

Many on the US right were incensed by the pandemic protections Anthony Fauci advocated, from masks and vaccines to school and business closures