Who are Ron Wyden’s children? All about Oregon senators kids accused of driving assistant to suicide

Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, who has been in Congress for more than 40 years, is now under a family scandal due to a lawsuit alleging that two of Wyden's younger children harassed the personal assistant of Wyden's wife, which was a contributing factor into his death by suicide. The allegations came from the widower of Brandon O'Brien.

Ron Wyden, who has recently turned 76, is the father of four children. He has two adult children from his first marriage, who are now in their 30s. With his current wife, Nancy Bass Wyden, a co-owner of New York City’s famous Strand Bookstore, he has three younger children: twins Ava Rose and William Peter, who were born in 2007.

While he splits his time between Washington, D.C., and Oregon, Bass Wyden and their children live primarily in New York City where she continues to manage her family's almost century old business.

“The children of US Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) relentlessly tormented their mom’s personal assistant, driving him to commit suicide, an explosive lawsuit claims.” pic.twitter.com/PAPoaFgjP1

— Rothmus 🏴 (@Rothmus) September 21, 2025

The dispute relates to events as reported in a lawsuit filed by O’Brien’s husband, Thomas Maltezos. The lawsuit states that O’Brien, who served as an assistant to Bass Wyden from 2022 to 2024, often took care of the couple’s children.

During the time, the family’s then-10-year-old daughter is alleged to have acted inappropriately toward O’Brien, making sexually explicit comments and asking personal questions. Their teenage son is also alleged to have subjected O’Brien to a number of repeated homophobic slurs and threats and even physical violence.

The lawsuit also alleges that Nancy Bass Wyden failed to intervene effectively and sometimes contributed to the harm alleged. Bass Wyden's lawyers categorically denied these allegations, calling the claims "baseless and deeply misguided."

They have also claimed that O'Brien himself was under investigation for major theft from the family, though the case was closed following O'Brien's suicide in May 2025.

A look into Ron Wyden's older children

The older children of Wyden chose very different paths from their younger siblings. His son Adam Wyden has become a hedge fund manager in Florida with a reputation in finance. Adam has reportedly built his share of the firm, ADW Capital Partners, into hundreds of millions through its focus on undervalued and overlooked companies.

Adam, in spite of his success, clashed publicly over his father’s progressive tax policy, especially proposals to increase capital gains. Adam called proposals to increase capital gains “anti-American,” suggesting that the family has a notable ideological divide.

The daughter of Wyden, Lilly Wyden has developed an independent trajectory of her own in the realm of business and technology. A graduate of both the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia Business School, Lilly has held prestigious positions at Instagram, Cityblock Health, and Catch.

In addition, Lilly is an investor and entrepreneur who runs the newsletter and podcast Shared Narratives, which examines trends in culture and economy.

Although Ron Wyden has spent years in the public eye, he has largely kept his family out of it. However, the current accusations have thrust his younger children, especially Ava Rose and William Peter, into an unwanted spotlight. For now, the case is pending, and the two sides are telling very different stories about what occurred before the death of O'Brien.