Difference between revisions of "Friedrich Merz"
(German politician) |
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|birth_date=11 November 1955 | |birth_date=11 November 1955 | ||
|nationality=German | |nationality=German | ||
| − | |constitutes=politician | + | |image=Friedrich Merz.jpg |
| + | |description=German [[transatlantic]] lobbyist and politician. [[Blackrock]]. Former chairman of the influential [[Atlantik-Brücke]]. | ||
| + | |constitutes=lawyer,politician,lobbyist,deep state actor | ||
|employment={{job | |employment={{job | ||
|title=Atlantik-Brücke/Chairman | |title=Atlantik-Brücke/Chairman | ||
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|title=Member of the European Parliament | |title=Member of the European Parliament | ||
|start=18 June 1989 | |start=18 June 1989 | ||
| − | end=12 June 1994 | + | |end=12 June 1994 |
}}{{job | }}{{job | ||
| − | |title=Member of the Bundestag | + | |title=Member of the Bundestag for Hochsauerlandkreis |
|start=16 October 1994 | |start=16 October 1994 | ||
|end=27 September 2009 | |end=27 September 2009 | ||
}} | }} | ||
}} | }} | ||
| − | '''Friedrich Merz''' is a German | + | '''Friedrich Merz''' is a German lobbyist and politician. A member of the [[Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU), he was Chairman of the [[transatlantic]] network [[Atlantik-Brücke]] until 2019, and is a staunch supporter of the [[European Union]] and [[NATO]], having described himself as "a truly convinced European, a convinced [[transatlanticist]]<ref>https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article183054050/Merz-will-CDU-Chef-werden-Wir-brauchen-Aufbruch-und-Erneuerung-keinen-Umsturz.html</ref>." Merz advocates a closer union and "an army for Europe". He also sits on the supervisory board of the German branch of the world's largest asset manager [[BlackRock]]<ref>http://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/personalien/friedrich-merz-wird-lobbyist-des-investmentriesen-blackrock-a-1082798.html</ref>. |
| − | He | + | He was a Member of the [[European Parliament]] (MEP) from [[1989]] to [[1994]] and was elected to the [[Bundestag]] from [[1994]] until [[2009]], where he chaired the [[CDU/CSU]] parliamentary group from [[2000]] to [[2002]]. Merz was a candidate in the [[2018]] CDU leadership election, placing second; tried again in the 2021 leadership election<ref>https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/merkel-cdu-bundesregierung-1.4189532</ref> , but did not succeed. |
| + | ==Bank lobbyism== | ||
| + | From 2005 to 2014 (until 2009, in addition to being an elected representative) Merz worked as a partner in the international law firm [[Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP]] - a heavyweight in the industry with annual sales in the billions, one of the twenty largest law firms in the world and which mostly represents [[Wall Street]] companies. | ||
| + | |||
| + | As a representative of this law firm, Merz was hired as a lawyer by the German government (SoFFin) in [[2010]] to find a buyer for the ailing bank [[WestLB]] after the law firm already had dumped the bank's junk bonds worth 77 billion euros to a taxpayer-funded "Bad Bank". Merz received a fee of 5,000 euros <b>per day</b> from the government for his services. His engagement was also a success for the bank [[HSBC|HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt]], which played a role in the takeover of the WestLB assets. As a thank you for this, Merz was allowed to take over the presidency of the [[HSBC|HSBC Trinkaus]] Board of Directors, a well paid position. <ref>https://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=46793</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | He sits on the boards of [[AXA Group AG]], [[DBV-Winterthur Holding AG]], [[Deutsche Börse |Deutsche Börse AG]], [[Ernst & Youn|Ernst & Young AG]], [[ROCKWOOL]], WEPA Industrieholding SE, [[Commerzbank AG]] and the [[HSBC|HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt]]<ref>https://www.about.hsbc.de/de-de/hsbc-in-germany/executive-bodies</ref>. His biggest career move, however, was his appointment as chairman of the supervisory board of the German branch of the world's largest asset manager [[BlackRock]]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | He is a founding member of the [[neoliberal]] [[think tank]] [[Initiative Neue Soziale Marktwirtschaft]]<ref>https://lobbypedia.de/wiki/Initiative_Neue_Soziale_Marktwirtschaft</ref> and sits on committees in the neoliberal network [[Stiftung Marktwirtschaft]].<ref>https://lobbypedia.de/wiki/Stiftung_Marktwirtschaft</ref> | ||
{{SMWDocs}} | {{SMWDocs}} | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
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Latest revision as of 18:43, 19 August 2022
 Friedrich Merz    (lawyer, politician, lobbyist, deep state actor) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 11 November 1955 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | German | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of | Aspen Institute Germany, Atlantik-Brücke, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Trilateral Commission | ||||||||||||||||||||
German transatlantic lobbyist and politician. Blackrock. Former chairman of the influential Atlantik-Brücke.
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Friedrich Merz is a German lobbyist and politician. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he was Chairman of the transatlantic network Atlantik-Brücke until 2019, and is a staunch supporter of the European Union and NATO, having described himself as "a truly convinced European, a convinced transatlanticist[1]." Merz advocates a closer union and "an army for Europe". He also sits on the supervisory board of the German branch of the world's largest asset manager BlackRock[2].
He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1989 to 1994 and was elected to the Bundestag from 1994 until 2009, where he chaired the CDU/CSU parliamentary group from 2000 to 2002. Merz was a candidate in the 2018 CDU leadership election, placing second; tried again in the 2021 leadership election[3] , but did not succeed.
Bank lobbyism
From 2005 to 2014 (until 2009, in addition to being an elected representative) Merz worked as a partner in the international law firm Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP - a heavyweight in the industry with annual sales in the billions, one of the twenty largest law firms in the world and which mostly represents Wall Street companies.
As a representative of this law firm, Merz was hired as a lawyer by the German government (SoFFin) in 2010 to find a buyer for the ailing bank WestLB after the law firm already had dumped the bank's junk bonds worth 77 billion euros to a taxpayer-funded "Bad Bank". Merz received a fee of 5,000 euros per day from the government for his services. His engagement was also a success for the bank HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt, which played a role in the takeover of the WestLB assets. As a thank you for this, Merz was allowed to take over the presidency of the HSBC Trinkaus Board of Directors, a well paid position. [4]
He sits on the boards of AXA Group AG, DBV-Winterthur Holding AG, Deutsche Börse AG, Ernst & Young AG, ROCKWOOL, WEPA Industrieholding SE, Commerzbank AG and the HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt[5]. His biggest career move, however, was his appointment as chairman of the supervisory board of the German branch of the world's largest asset manager BlackRock.
He is a founding member of the neoliberal think tank Initiative Neue Soziale Marktwirtschaft[6] and sits on committees in the neoliberal network Stiftung Marktwirtschaft.[7]
Events Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/2024 | 30 May 2024 | 2 June 2024 | Spain Madrid | The 70th Bilderberg Meeting |
| Munich Security Conference/2010 | 5 February 2010 | 7 February 2010 | Germany Munich Bavaria | An anti-war demonstration outside described it as "Nothing more than a media-effectively staged war propaganda event, which this year had the purpose of justifying the NATO troop increase in Afghanistan and glorifying the continuation of the war as a contribution to peace and stability." |
| Munich Security Conference/2011 | 4 February 2011 | 6 February 2011 | Germany Munich Bavaria | The 47th Munich Security Conference |
| Munich Security Conference/2012 | 3 February 2012 | 5 February 2012 | Germany Munich Bavaria | The 48th Munich Security Conference |
| Munich Security Conference/2013 | 1 February 2013 | 3 February 2013 | Germany Munich Bavaria | The 49th Munich Security Conference |
| Munich Security Conference/2014 | 31 January 2014 | 2 February 2014 | Germany Munich Bavaria | The 50th Munich Security Conference |
| Munich Security Conference/2015 | 6 February 2015 | 8 February 2015 | Germany Munich Bavaria | "400 high-ranking decision-makers in international politics, including some 20 heads of state and government as well as more than 60 foreign and defence ministers, met in Munich to discuss current crises and conflicts." |
| Munich Security Conference/2016 | 12 February 2016 | 14 February 2016 | Germany Munich Bavaria | The 52nd Munich Security Conference |
| Munich Security Conference/2017 | 17 February 2017 | 19 February 2017 | Germany Munich Bavaria | The 53rd Munich Security Conference |
| Munich Security Conference/2019 | 15 February 2019 | 17 February 2019 | Germany Munich Bavaria | The 55th Munich Security Conference, which included "A Spreading Plague" aimed at "identifying gaps and making recommendations to improve the global system for responding to deliberate, high consequence biological events." |
| Munich Security Conference/2022 | 18 February 2022 | 20 February 2022 | Germany Munich Bavaria | Slightly less than 1/3 of the 664 of the participants have pages here |
| Munich Security Conference/2024 | 16 February 2024 | 18 February 2024 | Germany Munich Bavaria | Annual conference of mid-level functionaries from the military-industrial complex - politicians, propagandists and lobbyists - in their own bubble, far from the concerns of their subjects |
References
- ↑ https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article183054050/Merz-will-CDU-Chef-werden-Wir-brauchen-Aufbruch-und-Erneuerung-keinen-Umsturz.html
- ↑ http://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/personalien/friedrich-merz-wird-lobbyist-des-investmentriesen-blackrock-a-1082798.html
- ↑ https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/merkel-cdu-bundesregierung-1.4189532
- ↑ https://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=46793
- ↑ https://www.about.hsbc.de/de-de/hsbc-in-germany/executive-bodies
- ↑ https://lobbypedia.de/wiki/Initiative_Neue_Soziale_Marktwirtschaft
- ↑ https://lobbypedia.de/wiki/Stiftung_Marktwirtschaft
