A fabricated letter claiming that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had resigned spread across social-media platform X on 22 July, briefly unsettling U.S. equity markets before being widely debunked. Market participants flagged irregularities in the document’s formatting and an apparently AI-generated Fed seal, and no official statement confirmed any departure. Multiple financial news outlets and analysts stated unequivocally that Powell remains in office. The rumor sent the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust lower for a few minutes before prices stabilized. Powell, whose current term as chair runs through 2026, had spoken earlier in the day without mentioning a resignation.