During his college years, he worked as a volunteer on Joe Biden’s (then senator and now US president) campaign for the 2008 Democratic Party presidential elections. In 2009, at the age of 21, he was hired by Goldman Sachs.
The businessman and former director of Goldman Sachs Stefanos Kasselakis has been elected new leader of the Syriza party during a primary held after the party’s hitherto chairman, Alexis Tsipras, presented his resignation following the electoral setback in the general election.
The 35-year-old politician has no previous political experience but has won the party’s support to lead Greece’s opposition bloc. Kasselakis has thus won over Effie Achtsioglou, a 38-year-old deputy and former labor minister. Three other candidates had been eliminated earlier.
The new leader of Syriza, living in the American city of Miami, was largely unknown to most of the Greek population. The electoral laws of Greece They offer candidates who are expats the opportunity to vote.
Last August, days after presenting a series of proposals for the party, Kasselakis released a video of about four minutes in which he summarized his life and his vision for the party, making him a strong candidate to join the leadership, despite the fact that Achtsioglou was basically the favorite.
However, his candidacy has sparked criticism among members of the Syriza old guard. Former Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, also a candidate, has accused him of indulging in “shallow post-politics driven by social media”.
Kasselakis, the liberal businessman who conquered the Greek left
Born in 1988 in Athens, the new leftist leader emigrated to the United States at the age of 14, where he graduated in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania after obtaining a scholarship.
During his student years he worked as a volunteer at the Joe Biden campaign (then Senator and now US President) for the 2008 Democratic Party presidential elections.
In 2009, at the age of 21, he was hired by Goldman Sachs, where, as he himself said, he “noticed the arrogance that money brings”, and therefore decided to resign from his position.
Rather liberal On the economic and social rights front, Kasselakis declared himself homosexual during Syriza’s internal election campaign, making him the first political leader in Greece’s history to publicly admit his homosexuality.
Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
