ECB: WEF could elect Lagarde as future boss at the beginning of November

The WEF board of trustees, of which Lagarde herself is a member, will meet on November 2nd and could elect the Frenchwoman as the next chairwoman. It was said that Lagarde's election was not yet certain. But the 70-year-old enjoys broad support within the board of trustees.

Two insiders said the board could also use the meeting to set a date for a vote. This would allow Lagarde to appear as chair-elect at the WEF's annual meeting in Davos in January. The ECB declined to comment.

There have been increasing signs for months that Lagarde could prematurely resign from her position as President of the European Central Bank (ECB). At the end of September, the Frenchwoman outlined this scenario herself for the first time. She “doesn’t rule out the possibility of resigning a few months before the end of my term,” Lagarde said in an interview. Previously she had simply stated that she wanted to stay at the ECB until next year. However, when asked about a possible move to the WEF, she did not comment on a possible move to the WEF during a roundtable discussion on the US television channel CNN in Bangkok on Tuesday.

Lagarde's term at the ECB runs until October 2027. An early resignation would allow EU leaders to choose a new ECB head before the French presidential elections in the spring. This could also pave the way for an agreement that also includes additional leadership positions at the ECB.

The chairman of the group of euro zone finance ministers, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, recently asked the 21 euro zone countries to nominate candidates for the post of outgoing German director Isabel Schnabel by October 28th. She will step down early at the beginning of 2027 and move to the International Monetary Fund, as the Handelsblatt exclusively reported. According to the ECB, the move will take effect on January 3, 2027.