Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Early life and education

Born in Athens, he is the son of the former Prime Minister of Greece and honorary president of the New Democracy political party, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, and his wife Marika.

He left Greece in 1968 for Paris, when he was six months old, along with his family, because his father was declared persona non grata by the Greek military junta. He returned when democracy was restored in 1974. In 1986, he was attending the Athens College, ending the year as salutatorian.

From 1986 to 1990, he studied Social Studies at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the U.S. where he graduated summa cum laude. He was also honoured with the Hoopes prize.

Professional career

He worked as an economic analyst at Chase Manhattan Bank from 1990 to 1991 in London. He later returned to Greece and went to the Hellenic Air Force to fulfill his military duty.

Kyriakos returned to the USA where he continued his studies at Stanford University from which received a MA in International Relations. He continued the circle of studies and returned to Harvard where he was awarded with a Master of Business Administration.

From 1995 to 1997, he went to London and went to the consultancy McKinsey & Company. He later returned to Greece where he worked at Alpha Ventures, a private equity subsidiary of Alpha Bank. He continued with the National Bank of Greece group, as managing director of NBG Venture Capital.

Political career

During the 2000 legislative election, Mitsotakis worked for New Democracy's national campaign. In the 2004 legislative election, Mitsotakis ran in the Athens B constituency, receiving more votes than any other New Democracy candidate in the country and was elected to the Hellenic Parliament.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis is honorary president of Konstantinos K. Mitsotakis Foundation, aiming at promoting the life and works of Konstantinos Mitsotakis and at reporting the modern political history of Greece.

In 24 June 2013, Mitsotakis was appointed as the Minister of Administrative Reform and e-Governance in Antonis Samaras's cabinet, succeeding Antonis Manitakis.

In 2015, Mitsotakis served as a parliamentary spokesman for New Democracy. In March 2015, he claimed that then-Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis was undermining the Greek negotiations over the third bailout programme, saying: "Every time he opens his mouth, he creates a problem for the country’s negotiating position."

Mitsotakis was the first of four New Democracy members to announce their candidacy in the leadership election, declared following the resignation of Antonis Samaras as party leader and the failure of New Democracy in the September 2015 snap election. Amongst the other contestants was then-interim leader and former Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament Vangelis Meimarakis. According to the Financial Times, Mitsotakis was "billed as an outsider in the leadership race" due to the party establishment's support of Meimarakis' candidacy. Following the first round of voting with no clear winner, Mitsotakis came second, 11% behind Meimarakis.

On 10 January 2016, Mitsotakis was elected president of the New Democracy political party succeeding Ioannis Plakiotakis (transitional president) with almost 4% difference from opponent Vangelis Meimarakis. A week following Mitsotakis' election as leader, two opinion polls were published that put New Democracy ahead of Syriza for the first time in a year.

Siemens scandal

In 2007 it was reported that Kyriakos Mitsotakis was involved in the Siemens Greek bribery scandal. However, Mitsotakis stated that he had no involvement in the scandal and was not proven guilty so far. The Siemens trial is still pending and is expected to begin by February 2017.

Electronic office equipment, call centers, air conditioners etc. worth approx. €130,000 was received in the period preceding the 2007 elections (June to September 2007) by Mitsotakis from Siemens and two of its subsidiaries. The invoices indicate payment period of up to 60 days, however no part of the amount was paid until February 2008, when part of it was paid, just when the Siemens case was reopened by the courts, and an amount of €43,850 was paid by check from Mr. Mitsotakis on Monday June 2. Earlier (on 29 May) testimonies had been made about "donations and grants by Siemens to politicians" and on 30 May 2008 the prosecutor's investigation took place at the company's offices.

Personal life

Kyriakos has three children, Sofia, Konstantinos and Dafni. In addition to Greek, he speaks English, French and German.

Mitsotakis is the younger brother of former Minister for Foreign Affairs and Mayor of Athens Dora Bakoyannis, therefore making him the brother-in-law of the late Pavlos Bakoyannis and the uncle of Kostas Bakoyannis, current Regional Governor of Central Greece.