Magnus Irie Approved as a New Faculty Member

Department Updates June 04, 2025

When Magnus Irie first came to Princeton as a Pyewacket Fellowship Postdoc through the Bendheim Center for Finance in 2024, he felt excited by the opportunity to continue his research while working alongside renowned academics within the department.

Irie’s education is extensive, starting with his BSc in Mathematics from Stockholm University in 2015. He then earned a MSc in Applied Mathematics with distinction from the London School of Economics in 2017, followed by an M.A. in Economics from the University of California in 2018. Irie then returned to the London School of Economics for his MRes in Finance and he completed his Ph.D. in Finance there in 2024.

His research interests are situated at the intersection of macroeconomics and finance, with a special focus on understanding the factors shaping the distribution of wealth in the economy. His recent research aims to deepen our understanding of the role played by the financial environment facing entrepreneurs in explaining the level and dynamics of wealth concentration in the economy as a whole and the accumulation of great fortunes.

“We are pleased to welcome Magnus Irie as an assistant professor after a year as the Pyewacket Postdoctoral Fellow,” said Motohiro Yogo, the Hughes-Rogers Professor of Economics at Princeton University. “Magnus builds on our strength in macro-finance at the Bendheim Center for Finance and adds expertise on private assets and wealth inequality. We are excited to see how his research can improve our understanding of financial markets and benefit society.”

“Magnus studies wealth and inequality resulting from differences in capital market returns, including venture capitalism in macrofinance models. The Bendheim Center for Finance is very pleased to have Magnus appointed as an assistant professor following his time here as our Pyewacket Fellowship Postdoctoral Fellow,” said Markus Brunnermeier, Director of the Bendheim Center for Finance.

Over the last year, Irie has continued his research and collaborated with BCF faculty, both adding to and benefiting from the experience and depth of knowledge within the Bendheim Center for Finance and the Economics Department at Princeton. In late May, the Princeton University Board of Trustees approved the appointment of 14 new faculty members, including Irie. Beginning on July 1, Irie will officially transition from the Pyewacket Fellowship to Assistant Professor of Economics.

“I am immensely excited to join Princeton Economics as an assistant professor. Needless to say (but I will say it anyway), the depth, breadth, and impact of the work conducted at this institution, as well as the overall research environment, is absolutely unparalleled,” said Irie. “I am especially looking forward to learning from my colleagues and developing as a researcher.”

Recent Research

One of Irie’s recent working papers, “Innovations in Entrepreneurial Finance and Top Wealth Inequality,” studies how improvements in entrepreneurs’ ability to share the risks associated with their firms with financial markets impact the level and dynamics of wealth concentration in the economy as a whole, as well as the prevalence of newly minted fortunes at the very top of the wealth distribution. He finds that improvements in risk sharing for entrepreneurs increase wealth concentration at the top if entrepreneurs are able to use the improvements in their financial environment to scale up their firms without losing too much profitability.

This is, in some ways, a continuation of Irie’s earlier research with Andrew Atkeson in the paper “Rapid Dynamics of Top Wealth Shares and Self-Made Fortunes: What Is the Role of Family Firms?” in which they emphasized that the decision of firm owners to bear a large amount of idiosyncratic risk is an especially important determinant for understanding the level and dynamics of wealth concentration in the economy as a whole.

More of Irie’s research can be found on his website. The Princeton University Economics Department and Bendheim Center for Finance looks forward to Irie continuing his essential research in macroeconomics, finance, and wealth inequality as a faculty member.