Ursula von der Leyen net worth in 2023 Career & Relationship
Estimated value: | €3 million |
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Age: | 63 |
Born: | 10/08/1958 |
Country of origin: | Belgium |
Source of Wealth: | politician |
Last updated: | 2021 |
Short introduction
dr medical Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen is a German politician who has been President of the European Commission since December 1, 2019. In previous years she was active as a politician at the Lower Saxony state and federal level. The following article takes a closer look at one of Europe’s most influential women.
early life
Ursula von der Leyen comes from the Albrecht family, whose members have shaped influential positions in politics and business. Her father Ernst Albrecht was Prime Minister of Lower Saxony from 1976 to 1990 and her brother Hans-Holger is head of the global music streaming service Deezer. Von der Leyen himself, then still called Albrecht, grew up in Brussels, Belgium, from 1958 to 1971, then in Ilten near Hanover. After graduating from high school, von der Leyen studied archeology for two years before switching to economics at the universities of Münster and Göttingen. At the same time, she also completed a semester at the London School of Economics and Political Science. From 1980 Ursula von der Leyen studied medicine at the Hannover Medical School (MHH). She completed her studies in 1987 with her license to practice medicine. During her studies she met her future husband Heiko von der Leyen, who is still a doctor and university lecturer today. The couple married in 1986 and have seven children. After working as an assistant doctor at the MHH, she did not continue her specialist training because of her children. Instead, she worked as a research assistant at the MHH, where she graduated in 2001 with a Master of Public Health.
Career
Ursula von der Leyen has been a member of the CDU since 1990. Within the party, she was involved in the 1990s as a doctor in the Lower Saxony specialist committee on social policy and the working group of doctors. From 2001 to 2004 she was a member of the town council of Sehnde as leader of the CDU parliamentary group. From 2003 she held the office of Minister for Social Affairs, Women, Family and Health in the Lower Saxony state government.
With her appointment as Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth in the Federal Government of the “Merkel I Cabinet”, she gave up her seat in the Lower Saxony state parliament in 2005. Ursula von der Leyen was to continue in this ministerial office during the legislative period from 2009 to 2013. Since the Federal Minister for Labor and Social Affairs, Franz Josef Jung, resigned in November 2009, she took over this post for the following four years. From 2013 to 2019, von der Leyen was the first woman to hold the office of Federal Minister of Defence. It should be noted that she was never able to obtain a direct mandate in her constituency in the federal elections of 2009, 2013 and 2017, but always entered the German Bundestag via the Lower Saxony state list.
As part of the 2019 European elections, top candidates ran for the first time as aspirants for the office of Commission President. Since the heads of state and government in the European Council could not agree on one of these candidates after the election, a consensus was found in Ursula von der Leyen. She was unanimously nominated by the European Council for the post of Commission President. The fact that the CDU politician was not previously among the top candidates brought her criticism from many parliamentarians at federal and EU level, who rated von der Leyen’s nomination as a “non-democratic solution”. Nevertheless, she was elected to office on July 16, 2019 with an absolute majority by the EU Parliament, which she took up on December 1, 2019.
Career highlights
– Minister for Social Affairs, Women, Family and Health of the State of Lower Saxony – 2003 to 2005
– Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth – 2005 to 2009
– Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs – 2009 to 2013
– Federal Minister of Defense – 2013 to 2019
– President of the European Commission – since 2019
Famous quotes
– “Children must be welcome again and have a permanent place in everyday life.” – World on Sunday, December 19, 2004
– “I don’t think it’s a bad thing that girls overtake boys when it comes to education.” – Berliner Zeitung, September 29, 2006
– “I also want to make it clear that the dignity of a child, the inviolability of a child is a higher good than the question of mass communication.” – on access blocks for child pornography on the Internet, 03/25/2009
– “The offers have to come in quick succession. Pace, pace, pace. Today you register as unemployed – and tomorrow you have something to do.” – As Federal Minister of Labor in Der Stern online, February 24, 2010
Amazing Facts
– Ursula von der Leyen recorded a single disc with two folk songs for charity in 1978. Her entire family can be heard on this record as she made the project with her parents and siblings.
– As a passionate rider, Ursula von der Leyen opened the European Riding Championships in Aachen in 2015.
– In 2014, German media reported that Ursula von der Leyen had taken a Syrian refugee into her private household and was helping him to integrate and find work.
Estimated value: | €3 million |
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