Joseph Richard Kernen (born January 6, 1956) is an American conservative news anchor who is the co-host of Squawk Box on CNBC.
Kernen grew up in Western Hills, Cincinnati and graduated from St. Xavier High School in 1974.[2] He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado Boulder and a master's degree in molecular biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he worked on cancer research.[3]
Kernen came to CNBC in the 1991 merger with Financial News Network, having joined FNN after a 10-year career as a stockbroker.
In 1995, he became the co-host of Squawk Box.[2]
On September 20 of 2013, Kernen imitated an Indian accent on CNBC's "Squawk Box" program while discussing banknotes from India and asked if the Indian rupee is accepted as currency at 7-Eleven stores. He later stated, "Last Friday, I made an inappropriate and insensitive remark on Squawk Box. I apologize for any offense it caused."[4][5]
In November 2014, during an on-air interview, Kernen asked IDA Ireland chief executive Martin Shanahan why Ireland did not use the pound sterling and asked if Ireland and Scotland were not on the same island.[6][7] Critics say Kernen appeared to believe that Republic of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom while ignoring the fact that Northern Ireland is indeed part of the UK.[8]
Kernen is married to Penelope Scott Kernen, a former commodities trader from Short Hills, New Jersey.[9] They met after she joined CNBC in 1996 and were married in 1998 on a golf course.
His nicknames are "The Kahuna" and "The Hair".[10]
Kernen authored Your Teacher Said What?!: Defending Our Kids from the Liberal Assault on Capitalism, (2011) with his then 5th grade daughter Blake.