[10] Wessel and his wife Naomi Karp, formerly a senior policy analyst at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Office for Older Americans,[11] have two children, Julia and Ben.

He and others on the WSJ staff were nominated for Public Service in 2003 but awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, citing "clear, concise and comprehensive stories that illuminated the roots, significance and impact of corporate scandals in America".

[13] Wessel is the author of several books and the editor of Central Banking after the Great Recession (2014), which features an interview between Ben Bernanke and Liaquat Ahamed as well as chapters by John C. Williams, Donald Kohn, and Paul Tucker.

In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke's War on the Great Panic (2009), a New York Times Best Seller, chronicles the Federal Reserve's response to the financial crisis of 2007–08.

"He has a reporters eye for detail, an ability to tell the story in an exciting way, but also blends in rigorous policy analytics and a certain degree of sympathy and open mindedness--while being willing to make the calls when they are obvious," Jason Furman wrote about the book.