Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, earns substantially more than the ECB publicly acknowledges, making her the highest-paid official in the European Union, according to a report by the Financial Times that has reignited debate over transparency at Europe’s most powerful financial institution.
Central bank chiefs worldwide are generally well compensated, though their salaries typically fall below those of corporate executives or leaders of major commercial banks. Lagarde, however, appears to be an exception. While the ECB lists her official base salary at €466,000 in 2024, up from €444,984 the year before—the Financial Times estimates her total annual compensation at roughly €726,000 once additional income and benefits are included.
According to the report, Lagarde receives about €260,000 beyond her base pay, a figure the ECB does not itemize publicly. This includes an estimated €125,000 for her role on the board of the Bank for International Settlements, a position she has held since November 2019, as well as roughly €135,000 in non-cash benefits such as a subsidized residence and other allowances.
The total places Lagarde well above European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who earns roughly 20 percent less, and far ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whose salary stands at $203,000. Powell’s compensation is tightly regulated under U.S. federal law, which also bars American officials from receiving pay from non-U.S. institutions, meaning his role at the BIS comes without additional income.
The ECB declined to comment on the newspaper’s calculations, noting only that the president’s salary framework was established when the ECB was founded in 1998 and has since been adjusted only through standard annual increases applied to all staff. The BIS also declined to respond.
Legal scholar Guido Ferrarini of the University of Genoa told the Financial Times that Lagarde’s overall compensation was not surprising, but criticized the ECB’s disclosure practices as inadequate. More detailed reporting, he argued, should match the standards required of publicly listed companies.
German lawmaker Fabio De Masi went further, calling it “scandalous” that Deutsche Bank’s chief executive discloses more about his pay than the head of Europe’s central bank.
