Caio Kai Koch-Weser (born July 25, 1944 in Rolândia,

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

) is a German economist, civil servant and business executive. He was Secretary of State in the Federal Ministry of Finance 1999–2005. Prior to becoming Secretary of State, he served in the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

in a number of positions for 26 years, from 1991–1999 as Vice President and from 1996–1999 as Managing Director of Operations. He is now a Vice Chairman and senior adviser with

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

Early life

Koch-Weser was born and grew up in

, since his parents and grandparents had left Germany due to the rise of Nazism. He is the grandson of liberal politician and former German Federal Minister of Justice and

Vice Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth countr ...

Erich Koch-Weser, who had a Jewish mother. Caio Koch-Weser settled in West Germany in 1961, at 17, where he took his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

and went on to study economics, sociology and history in Münster, Berlin and Bonn.

Career in the World Bank

Koch-Weser joined the

in 1973. He served as Personal Assistant to the President of the Bank

Robert McNamara Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American businessman and government official who served as the eighth United States secretary of defense from 1961 to 1968 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson ...

(1977–1980), Division Chief for China (1980–1986), and Director of Western Africa Department (1986–1990). In 1990 he was assigned to the Treasurer's Department, and in 1991 he became Vice President of Middle East and North Africa (MNA). As Vice President of MNA, Koch-Weser was responsible for improving economic relations between the Middle East and North Africa. In November 1995, the Middle Eastern markets and income were declining, and Koch-Weser explained this was because the Middle East "squandered their potential during good times and then reaped the whirlwind in bad ones". He was also appointed one of the Managing Directors of the World Bank in 1996. During his career in the World Bank, he mostly lived in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

but also worked in Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Secretary of State in the Ministry of Finance

In May 1999 he was appointed Secretary of State in the Federal Ministry of Finance, and as such the administrative head of the Ministry and deputy of the Federal Minister of Finance. Despite being appointed to a political position in the SPD government, he is not member of a political party. He was nominated by the German government for the post as head of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

(IMF) in 2000, but because he was rejected by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the German government eventually nominated

Horst Köhler Horst Köhler (; 22 February 1943 – 1 February 2025) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU ...

, who was elected. Horst Köhler, one of Koch-Weser's predecessors as Secretary of State in the Ministry of Finance, would later become

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

After politics

After the 2005 elections and the formation of a new government under

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

, Koch-Weser decided to leave his post at the Ministry of Finance, and was appointed to the board of

, as Vice Chairman, in January 2006. He is also active as an advisor for major customers of the bank on financial, economic and strategic developments, and represents the bank in key public forums worldwide. He has been based in London since 2006.

Corporate boards

BG Group BG Group plc was a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom. On 8 April 2015, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire BG Group for $70 billion, subject to regulatory an ...

, Non-Executive Member of the Board of Director (2010-2016)

Non-profit organizations

* Blum Center for Developing Economies at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees *

Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...

, Member of the Panel of Senior Advisers *

World Resources Institute The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research non-profit organization established in 1982 with funding from the MacArthur Foundation under the leadership of James Gustave Speth. Subsequent presidents include Jonathan Lash (1993– ...

(WRI), Member of the Board * Global Commission on the Economy and Climate (NCE), Member of the Board * Centre for European Reform (CER), Member of the Board *

European Climate Foundation The European Climate Foundation (ECF) is an independent philanthropic initiative working to help tackle the climate crisis by fostering the development of a net zero emissions society at the national, European and global level. Its aim is to pro ...

, Chair of the Board (2013-2018) *

Bertelsmann Stiftung The Bertelsmann Stiftung is an independent Foundation (nonprofit), foundation under private law, based in Gütersloh, Germany. It was founded in 1977 by Reinhard Mohn as the result of social, corporate and fiscal considerations. The foundati ...

, Member of the Advisory Board (since 1998), Member of the Board of Trustees (until 2007) *

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

, Member of the Board * Bruegel, Member of the Board

Personal life

He is married to Maritta Rogalla von Bieberstein, of the noble Rogalla von Bieberstein family. They have 3 children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koch-Weser, Caio Kai German politicians World Bank people 1944 births Living people Brazilian people of German descent People from Rolândia