She earns four times more than her American counterpart. Frenchwoman Christine Lagarde, who heads the European Central Bank (ECB), earned 50% more than her declared salary according to an analysis by the “Financial Times” (FT).
The leader received 726,000 euros in 2024 while her salary declared by the ECB is “only” 466,000 euros, or 56% more according to the British economic daily. For comparison, the salary of Jerome Powell, head of the Fed, the American equivalent of the ECB, is capped by federal law at 203,000 dollars (172,720 euros), specifies the “Financial Times”.
Christine Lagarde, who has headed the ECB since 2019, received benefits in kind estimated at 135,000 euros “for housing and other elements”, indicates the newspaper. As a member of the board of directors of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), “the central bank of central banks”, she also receives 125,000 euros annually. These two additional remunerations do not appear in the ECB’s annual report.
Lack of transparency
If the former director of the IMF receives income much lower than that of managers of large European companies, these revelations above all point to the lack of salary transparency of the European bank. The latter is in fact not subject to the same transparency rules as listed EU companies and banks. “The President of the ECB is the highest paid civil servant in the EU and should represent the absolute reference in terms of accountability,” protested German MEP Fabio de Masi after the FT.
The former Minister of the Economy in the Fillon government remains effectively the highest paid official in the European Union, even if we stick to her declared salary. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen receives remuneration 21% lower than that of the Frenchwoman.
According to analyzes by the economic newspaper, Christine Lagarde could receive up to 6.5 million euros for her eight years at the head of the ECB due to additional payments and compensation received at the end of her mandate. From 2030, the bank would pay him a pension of around 178,000 euros each year.
