The former head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi was presented with the prestigious Charlemagne Prize at a ceremony in Aachen, western Germany, on May 14. "You took charge of the euro during
Key facts
- •Draghi is likely mostly remembered as the head of the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB), who worked to stabilize the eurozone during turbulent times.
- •But he had many other career stops along the way.
- •Draghi started out as a professor of economics in Italy.
- •Later he worked at the World Bank and Goldman Sachs.
- •Over the years, he served on the board of several Italian banks and companies.
The former head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi was presented with the prestigious Charlemagne Prize at a ceremony in Aachen, western Germany, on May 14. "You took charge of the euro during a time of crisis, and you stabilized the euro and the eurozone," Chancellor Friedrich Merz said during his speech honoring Draghi. With his 2024 report on the future of European competitiveness, dubbed the Draghi Report , Merz said Draghi had "pointed the way toward reform with his unsparing analysi
Draghi is likely mostly remembered as the head of the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB), who worked to stabilize the eurozone during turbulent times. But he had many other career stops along the way. Draghi started out as a professor of economics in Italy. Later he worked at the World Bank and Goldman Sachs. Over the years, he served on the board of several Italian banks and companies. Mario Draghi (left) visited Kyiv with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other European leaders to show support for the country in June 2022 Image: Ludovic Marin/AP Photo/picture alliance From 2006 until 2011 he was the governor of the Bank of Italy, the country's central bank. It was during his time there that problems started to surface in the US subprime mortgage market. By 2008, the situation turned into a global crisis, especially following the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers, that wreaked havoc on economies around the world. Draghi was selected to run the ECB in 2011, in the middle of this turmoil. By this time, the global financial crisis had triggered a Europen debt crisis. This led to austerity measures and bailouts in some eurozone countries, most notably Greece . Draghi tirelessly defended the single currency and became known for saying the ECB would do "whatever it takes" to stop the euro from failing.
This article was independently rewritten by ManyPress editorial AI from reporting originally published by Deutsche Welle Business.
