A Financial Times analysis has revealed European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde’s full pay is more than 50% higher than her disclosed salary.
She is said to have earned a total of about €726,000 in 2024, according to the FT’s calculations, some 56% higher than the “basic” salary of €466,000 disclosed by the ECB in its annual report.
This means Lagarde earns nearly four times more than the chair of the US Federal Reserve, Jay Powell, whose salary is set by federal US law and is currently capped at $203,000 (€172,720).
Lagarde’s basic salary alone makes her the best paid official in the EU. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s annual basic pay is 21% lower.
On top of her basic salary, Lagarde receives an estimated €135,000 in fringe benefits for housing and other matters, according to the FT’s analysis.
Reasons For Limited Pay Disclosure
The central bank is not subject to the same strict rules as listed companies in the bloc, which dictate they must give a “full and reliable picture of the remuneration” of each of their directors.
Fabio De Masi, MEP and chair of Germany’s populist-left party BSW, said it was “scandalous” that Deutsche Bank chief executive Christian Sewing “provides the public with more detailed information about his pay than Madame Lagarde does”. Sewing earned €9.8mn in 2024.
De Masi urged the ECB to adopt a similar standard to the European pay disclosure laws for listed companies. “The president of the ECB and highest-paid EU official should represent the gold standard of accountability,” he said.
Lagarde also earns an estimated €125,000 for her position as one of the 18 members of the board of directors of the Bank for International Settlements known as the “bank for central banks”.
The ECB annual report does not reference Lagarde’s BIS salary. The BIS itself only discloses aggregate pay for all its board members. Powell was not paid for his role on the BIS board due to US law that bans officials from receiving a salary from non-US entities, the Fed told the FT.
Due to a lack of detailed and consolidated data, the FT’s calculations are based on the annual reports of both the ECB and BIS, as well as a technical document spelling out the “terms and conditions” of top ECB officials’ pay. The estimate does not include the ECB’s contributions to Lagarde’s pension and the cost of her health plan and insurances due to a lack of available data.
